Whoops!
by Ming24
Summary: Karin splits from her boyfriend right before Ichigo's wedding, so she get desperate and asks Toushiro to be her date. Little do they know that their feeling towards each other will change. *This is AU story*
1. Chapter 1

**Okay..first of all, this is an alternate universe story, so it means no shinigami, no hollow, no arrancar, and no dead people here... :)**

**Karin is herself, she still has Yuzu as her sister and Ichigo and her brother. But Toushiro is different, he is wealthy and powerful in this story. He is extremely ooc though, because he likes to tease Karin so much. The background that you need to know between them is that they were childhood enemy, they don't like each other that much in high school. This story is set when they grow up.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.**

--

Desperation definitely made people do strange things, such as staying up all night to study for a huge test or asking a favor from someone they didn't know, or in Karin Kurosaki's case, writing a letter to her childhood enemy, Toushiro Hitsugaya. Under normal circumstances, she would have absolutely nothing to do with him. Both of them had made sure that they made each other's lives nothing but hell in high school.

At twenty, and freshly graduated from Tokyo University just a few months back, Karin wouldn't have thought that she would have given up to a ridiculous thought like this one. Most likely he would say no to her request and it would be a proof that getting helped from the old enemy was impossible and a bad idea in the first place. The reason why she did this? Well, everything was her ex boyfriend's fault. If he hadn't cheated on her with a girl called Hinamori, none of these would have happened. She wouldn't be having this big problem of finding a date to go to her brother and his fiancé's wedding where her ex boyfriend was a best man.

Karin sighed and sealed the letter; sending the letter was going to be the first thing she did when she woke up in the morning. Collapsing on the sofa, she took a deep breath and looked at her sister's picture on the shelf.

"Do you think I'm crazy Yuzu?" She asked touching the picture at the same time.

...

A few days later, Karin was sipping her coffee and reading a newspaper. The wedding was in a week and she desperately needed a date within three days before she went back to Karakura town where the wedding took place. She was thinking maybe she could ask one of her guy friends to go with her, but that would mean nothing because Masaru, her stupid boyfriend, would know immediately that she had no date. She still hadn't heard back from Toushiro and although it was very disappointing because she had no idea what to do, she wasn't surprised why he didn't answer her. Until now she didn't even know why she decided to ask her childhood enemy to help her with this. Maybe it was because Masaru didn't like him that was why she considered him as a perfect choice. But this was definitely the craziest idea she had ever had.

Just before she decided to stop caring about this, she walked to her mailbox to check if she got a reply from Toushiro or not. This was going to be the last time she checked her mailbox because she had to leave her apartment within couple days. If there was no reply from him this time, she was going to give up and would have to go to the wedding by herself. However, when she opened her mailbox, she found that she got a letter from him. She took a deep breathe before opening a letter.

_Dear Karin,_

_I would love to accompany you to your brother's wedding._

_It would be greatly entertaining to make a joke on Masaru, or should I say your ex boyfriend. _

_I will meet you tomorrow's morning so we can make some arrangements._

_Toushiro Hitsugaya._

Karin glared at a letter she just got, but since she was so desperate she didn't have a back up plan. So she decided to ignore his obvious disgust at her and her ex boyfriend. After all this would be terrific idea to have a revenge on him too. She knew Toushiro was a perfect choice for her plan. He was rich, powerful, and influential, and despite the fact that she didn't like him, she knew he was good-looking, personable, and charming... when he wanted to be, that was.

'Shit! I'm insane' She thought as she looked at the letter again.

...

The next day, Karin woke up early in the morning to clean up her apartment. She knew Toushiro was coming today, and she wouldn't give him an opportunity to complain anything about her apartment. She also packed her bag ealier to make sure that she didn't forget anything. She needed to talk to Toushiro about the place where they were going because the whole wedding ceremony was going to take place in their hometown as it was where her brother, Ichigo, and his fiancé, Rukia met. She was thinking of what she was going to do once she got there when she heard a knock on the door. 'It must be him.' She thought.

"Hey," She said as she opened the door, trying to be nice. "Thank you for doing this."

"It wasn't for you," He smirked and replied as he stepped into her apartment. "I have my reason. Plus it would be nice to see Masaru's face once we get there."

"Well, I'm glad that you care so much." She snapped and glared at him before closing the door.

Of course, it meant nothing to him because he just continued to smirk. And that smirk was really annoying for Karin. She couldn't understand why he couldn't be decent like ordinary people. But the better question that popped up in her mind was why she decided to do this in the first place.

"So how are we going to get there?" He asked as he sat on the nearest sofa comfortably in a Hitsugaya-ish manner.

"By car of course, or you have a better idea?"

"I'm just messing with you," he replied then snorted. "Seriously, you never change. Anything you want to talk about before we go there?"

"With you?" She looked at him in disbelief. "I don't think so."

"You know if we are going to be in love, we should act like it."

"Listen, we don't need to and I don't need to tell you anything because it's none of your business. Besides we are just pretending! I believe you know the meaning of pretending."

"And I believe you know exactly what I mean. Let's face it. No one is going to believe we are together unless we act like it. So in order to make it believable, it has to come from both sides."

At this Karin who had been trying to protest whatever he said but found herself speechless. Obviously nothing had changed because he was still mean to her as he ever had been before. But she knew he was right, they had to act like it. Although another side of her conceded that she wasn't making that much of an effort, the stronger side said that he had to make more of one too. They had been enemy since high school and they had been negative about each other since then. Honestly, what did he expect from her? Did he expect her to run to him with outstretched arms and say thank you? Oh, she didn't think so.

"So," He asked all of a sudden. "Do we go straight to the party or what?"

"Yes," She replied looking at him carefully.

Toushiro nodded. He was quiet for a moment as if he was thinking about something.

"So, what am I supposed to wear?" He asked finally.

Karin immediately rolled her eyes. She was trying to sense if he was just trying to make a complete fool of her or was really curious about he was supposed to wear. She looked back at him, slightly impatient, trying to get her answer.

"Don't you know?"

Toushiro just looked back at her with an amused look on his face.

"What are you looking at? I'm asking you." She snapped.

"You are amusing." He replied and chuckled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked angrily.

"Never mind," He shrugged nonchalantly. "If you don't answer my question, I guess I will just go in my boxers."

"You will not do such things." She said dangerously. She knew the answer to her question now; he intended to tease her and she wouldn't allow it.

"Well, I have no idea you are so ashamed of showing me to the public," He smiled sweetly. "After all you ask me to help you."

"I don't care." She glared at him, obviously annoyed with the remark he just made.

"If we are going together as a couple, we need to sound like we are intimately acquainted."

"And if you don't stop making these smart remarks," She warned him. "You'll soon become intinately acquainted with my fist in your face Toushiro."

"Been there, done that. Remember the last year of high school, right before the graduation?"

"Whatever," She sighed, finally giving up. "I'm wearing a blue kimono. You figure out what you are supposed to wear."

"Okay" He replied smirking.

Karin thought that she couldn't stand Toushiro anymore, so she walked to her kitchen and prayed that he would just leave soon. The idea of having him as her date on the wedding day was unbearable enough.

"You know, we are going to need a story." He said simply.

Karin stopped walkimg immediately. Although she almost made a remark to what he just said as well, she also realized he was right. His tone had no mockery in it at all; it was just an intelligent statement of fact. They did need a story if they wanted to make it believable.

"You are right." She said.

"Of course I am."

"Oi, shut up," Karin snapped. "We will think of something when we get there."

--

**And as usual, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, next chapter :) by the way, I forget to tell you guys that Toushiro is 21 now. He is a year older than Karin, and as same as Masaru. It's not too hard to imagine him being older and good looking right?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.**

--

The day that Karin planned to go back finally arrived. She looked back over her bags to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything before living her apartment. Saying goodbye to some of her friends, she finally left with her nerves all tied up in knots. Her original plan was to drive there, but it had been changed because Toushiro suggested it would be very awkward for both of them to get stuck in the car together for three hours, they would probably kill each other first because of annoyance. So they decided to meet at the train station and had someone picked them up later. At least, they could just be away or pretend that they didn't know each other on the train.

When Karin finally arrived at the train station with two bags in her hands, she looked around nervously for Toushiro.

"Karin Kurosaki"

Karin turned immediately at the familiar drawl that was coming from behind her. She swore his drawl made a permanent niche in her memory, especially after spending all those years at high school with him.

"Toushiro Hitsugaya" She stated simply.

"So, did you get us tickets for the train?" He asked and winked at her.

"No," She replied blushing. Damn, why had she forgotten the tickets?

And with her reply, Toushiro disappeared in the crowd and then came back out a moment later.

"Where'd you go?" She asked him curiously.

"To get tickets for us," He replied haughtily. "You know one of us have to do it."

"I have had a lot of stuff on mind lately. I'm sorry that I let this one little thing slipped." She said glaring at him, and kicked at the ground with her foot.

"Oh, really? Maybe I should remind you again that you asked me to help you with this. Honestly, I shouldn't be the one who pays for tickets." He snorted, and walked away signaling her to follow him. "So, are you coming or not?

…

When they arrived at Karakura town, the two awkwardly holding each other's hand, neither one of them had ever had to do anything like this. Toushiro really had no idea that one day he would have to accompany one of his worst enemies to the wedding. 'What the hell am I doing here among all these people? Why do I accept her request at the first place?' He asked himself silently.

"Karin!"

The two turned when they saw Rukia ran towards them. Toushiro let go of Karin's hand immediately allowing Rukia to give her a big hug.

"What are you doing here?" Rukia asked him venomously. Oh, she went to the same high school with them alright. Even though she was older than both of them, she still knew that they didn't like each other. And it was too weird to see them standing next to each other like this. "I'm pretty sure that you weren't invited."

Like a reflex, Toushiro pulled Karin closer to him, then kissed the top of her forehead.

"Actually I'm here with Karin." He replied and looked at Karin. He saw Karin gave him a wary look from the corner of his eyes, but he ignored it.

"What?" Rukia asked shocked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Toushiro asked and raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"I'm not stupid," Rukia sneered. "Why are you with each other?"

"Because I love him," Karin who had been listening to the conversation silently finally decided to cut in. She looked at Toushiro lovingly as she said it.

Toushiro forced a straight face when he saw that look. He knew they are pretending to be in love, but damn, she was better than him. He was so certain that she could just end up being an actress on a TV show or something.

"Yeah, I ju-" Toushiro smirked as he was trying to say something to Rukia, before he caught a disapproving look that Karin sent him.

"Then," Rukia asked. "Can I talk to Karin alone for a bit?"

Toushiro and Karin exchanged a glance at this and finally Toushiro nodded showing his approval. There was no need for him to deny Karin her friend, especially the friend who was becoming her sister-in-law. That would just look suspicious and weird.

"Certainly" He said. "I'm going to get some drinks. Do you want anything?

"No," Rukia said and smiled politely at Toushiro. She grabbed Karin's hand pulling her away immediately.

"I will be waiting for you guys over there then." He shouted after them.

"What the hell is going on?" Rukia asked Karin accusingly once both of them were alone.

"What do you mean?" Karin asked back curiously. She tried hard to keep the innocent look on her face and yet it was so hard to lie to one of her best friends who seemed to know her forever. Deep down, she just wondered how the hell was she going to do it?

"Come on, you can't tell me that you are serious with him. I mean he was your enemy remember?"

"Rukia," Karin said imploringly. "I really do care about him. I think breaking up with Masaru makes me realize it. Well, talking about Masaru, where is he?"

"He is not here yet, but he will be soon with his new girlfriend. And you know he is going to be pissed that you are here with the spoiled brat he hated when he was young."

"Don't call him that," Karin found herself snapping. "It's Toushiro, just call him like this from now on, okay?"

"Alright alright," Rukia sighed and gave up. "Honestly Karin, I find it hard to believe but I guess we can't pick who we would love, that's why I end up with your idiot brother. And you better have an explanation to everyone once we get to the house, because I'm sure that you are going to be bombarded with questions."

"By the way, I'm really happy for both of you though. I always know this would happen one day." Karin smiled and said. She was trying to change the subject. 'Explanation? Shit, I need to talk to him first. We have to come up with the same story.' She thought darkly.

"Thanks," Rukia said as she hugged Karin again. "We better go now."

Both Rukia and Karin walked back only to see that Toushiro stood next to the vending machine talking to an older woman while waiting for them.

"Yes, yes," He was nodding to the woman that both Rukia and Karin didn't know. "I love traveling. I've traveled quite a bit actually."

When Toushiro saw Karin, he looked up and smiled at her immediately.

"This is my girlfriend, Karin," He said as he turned to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder pulling her closer to him. "We come here for the wedding of her older brother. Karin, this is Mrs. Satou. I just help her getting some drinks from this machine. We chat a little bit and I was telling her that we love traveling and we work together in Tokyo."

Of course, that was a total bollock, but Karin decided to play along quite nicely. Well, she couldn't do anything, could she? Especially when Rukia was right there with them.

"Oh, yes," She smiled at the short, black haired woman whom Toushiro identified as Mrs. Satou. "We like traveling a lot, actually our job allow us to travel together.

"She is charming." Mrs. Satou nodded and smiled as she looked back at Toushiro. "You two look perfect together."

"And I do love her so much." He smiled widely. "But I think we have to go now. By the way, Karin, here is a drink I got for you. "

"Oh," She was totally shocked that he got a drink for her. "Thank you. And it's nice meeting you Mrs. Satou."

Toushiro also said goodbye to Mrs. Satou, and with his arms around Karin's shoulder, he led her away from the older woman and followed to Rukia to the car.

Karin grinned wryly and shook her head in disbelief when she saw that Rukia wasn't pay attention to them.

"What?" He asked raising one eyebrow.

"You know you are funny and charming when you want to be." She whispered sipping a drink that he got her. "And very good acting. I commend your skill."

Karin knew she sounded slightly nervous when she gave him her sincere compliment. It was sort of embarassing to admit, even to herself, that she was desperate and asked him to help her. But Toushiro's acting was beyond her expectation, she could say that he wasn't doing a bad job at all.

"Well, I already said that I would help and I want it to be perfect." He shrugged.

Karin was forced to hold an urge to retort at this. Why did he have to be so aggravating all the time? She shook her head and decided that she wouldn't focus on it now. She could do that later. Now she just had to pretend that she and Toushiro were madly in love.. and had worked together? Well, that part had been stretched. But well, she could live with it for the sake of her plan. 'Yeah, right. You want everything to be perfect. I'm betting that we will fight soon.' She thought.

...

**Well, nothing happens in this chapter, basically they put their plan into action. This chapter is just showing the different sides in both of them; the way they act when they were alone and in front of others. It's not too hard to imagine them hating each other and loving each other at the same time right? And review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I have news for you guys... they consider redoing the Torin Awards right now... all you have to do is voting if you want it or not... so here is the URL for the poll ****www. fanfiction. net/topic/49024/7978862/1/**** And remember that this poll will close in august 2nd. So you only have 2 days to vote. (you can copy and paste, but you have to take out the space first) If I know more about this, I will tell you guys soon :)**

**Now, on the story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.**

--

Once they got to the house, Karin had the shock of her life when she found that Masaru was already there. He was standing in the living room by himself. The moment she saw him there, she considered walking back to the garage to help Toushiro and Rukia. But she decided against it. Well, it was just an accident that she ran into him, right?

"Hey, Karin," Masaru smiled awkwardly at her. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," She replied and smiled at him.

Masaru leaned down trying to kiss her cheek but she stepped away from him. For a moment, Karin reveling in memories of them being together. She still cared so much about the guy who was standing right in front of her, but why had he been such as idiot?

"Excuse me," came a familiar voice.

Masaru immediately turned to look at the door. Karin jumped a little when she found that Toushiro was standing there. Although she was sort of disappointed that she couldn't have talked to Masaru for a longer period of time, she was grateful that Toushiro chose to show up before she could do anything she would regret. Well, it was the weird place to be in, and she had no idea what to do about it. Luckily, she wasn't alone.

"What do you want Toushiro?" Masaru asked glaring at him.

"Well, I'm just making sure that you are not trying to take advantage of my girlfriend," Toushiro smiled and replied. "Karin, are you ready? I just got us a hotel."

"Already?" She asked playing along nicely. 'Hotel what? That wasn't in the plan.' She thought to herself.

"That was a surprise for you." Toushiro grinned at her but he kept his eyes on Masaru.

"Well, then I guess I have to go. It's nice to see you here Masaru," she said and walked towards Toushiro.

With Masaru's mouth hanging open in shock, Both Karin and Toushiro left.

"What the hell are you doing?" Karin asked immediately when she was sure that no one heard them. "You don't have to do that, you know?"

"I was trying to save you from what you could have done to yourself," Toushiro replied smartly."Come on Karin, anyone could see that you still have feeling for him."

Karin was speechless at this. Well, she knew he was right.

"Besides, there are better ways to tear him up inside," He continued. "I will enjoy teaching him a lesson."

"Don't get too violent," She pleaded. "It will make us unbelievable and plus I don't want to cause a scene. It's hard to make everyone believe that we are together already."

"Don't worry, it will work." He winked at her. "By the way, I don't think we should stay at the house."

"Why not?"

"Well, we will have to act like we are in love all the time. Do you think you can do that?" He said. "Plus, we haven't talked about the story of how we get together. I think we need to be alone to talk about this."

Karin nodded. She totally agreed with him. Well, staying at the hotel with Toushiro wasn't bad idea, at least it was better than staying at the house where they could blow up their covers anytime.

"I will tell Rukia that we are staying at the hotel in downtown then."

...

'Oh, damn. I forget the present at my apartment.' Karin thought as she sat up in bed the next morning and groaned. Meanwhile, Toushiro was still sleeping right next to her

"Yes, that is rather impressive….."

Karin couldn't help but laugh at this. She could believe that he had a habit of talking in his sleep. Well, only Toushiro Hitsugaya said something like this in his sleep. She quickly hopped out of the bed and looked at the clock on the bedside which read 9:35 A.M. Deciding that she better get ready, she began to get dressed.

Quietly, she headed to the bathroom so she could get ready. 'A hot shower would be nice.' She thought to herself before closing the door. Staying in the same room with Toushiro caused her a headache. But still, she couldn't shake the feeling she got from their fights when they got into the hotel room and when he kissed her on the forehead at the train station yesterday. It was no wonder why he was the most popular guys in high school back then. At the back of her mind, she started to agree with all those pathetic girls at school that he was indeed charming.

At that moment, the door opened and Toushiro appeared only in his boxers.

"Excuse me," Karin said sharply, "I'm trying to get changed."

"So," He shrugged. "I can't change as well?"

"I would like my privacy." She glared and added impatiently willing him to leave.

"Well, I'd rather stay here." He smirked and replied.

Karin rolled her eyes at this. Seriously, why couldn't he give someone privacy? She immediately put one hand on either of his shoulders, and pushed him backwards towards a door. However, he was stronger and bigger than she was, so it was quite hard for her to push him backwards.

"Get out?" He asked chuckling. He looked amused at her as he raised one eyebrow in doubtful manner. "Fine."

When the door was shut behind him, Karin almost thought of locking the door. But she knew what she was thinking was rather childish. There were no reasons she had to do something so immature like that. She was an adult now. She didn't know about Toushiro, but she decided that she was going to be mature. Plus, they were already stuck together like this; she might as well try to get along with him. However, there were times when she just wanted to strangle him as much as she could too.

At the moment, the door opened again, and the said problem entered smirking in his usual manner.

"So," She asked looking at him thoughtfully. "I have a question."

"Ask away." He said, walking towards the sink to brush his teeth.

"Have you ever smiled before?"

Toushiro turned back to her with an amused expression on his face. He continued to stare at her. Karin immediately felt color flood her cheeks 'Was that a really stupid question?' She asked herself in the head. But according to his facial expression, she was sure it had been.

"You are not serious." He said.

"No, I am." She said confidently, even though she felt like an idiot. "I mean, I don't think you have ever smiled before."

"What about yesterday at the train station with Rukia?" He asked.

"I guess," She shrugged. "But you can't say it was real. I mean I don't think I have ever seen you genuinely smiled at me before."

"Well, you don't deserve one." He shrugged, and continued brushing his teeth.

"You jerk!" She immediately threw the nearest bottle of shampoo at him.

"Alright, alright," He sighed. "You want a smile?"

"Only if you feel like I deserve one, that is. I mean, we do have different soft of relationship now, don't we?" She replied sarcastically.

And then, without warning, Toushiro grinned.

Karin was so shocked to see this that she almost fell into the bathtub. It was the first look that she had gotten from him that was so unguarded. And even though she hated to admit it, she knew it was brilliant. Now she definitely knew why all pathetic girls at school were drooling over him.

"Is that good enough for you?"

And all Karin could do was nodding. And it was the moment that she realized she was late and had to get in the bath.

"I..I have to get rea-"

"Don't worry, I don't look." He said following her gaze towards the tub.

"I don't trust you." She looked at him suspiciously.

"Do you know you are so high school right now?" He said rolling his eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked.

"Like, Oh my god," He raised his voice to make it sound like a girl. "Don't look at me."

"Oi, shut up," She snapped, slightly stung at his last comment. "There is this certain level of intimacy and respect that we don't have. And I'm sorry I sound immature to you, but I don't trust that you won't look at me."

"Do you know all you have to do is say 'Hey, Toushiro, do you think you could go in the other room while I'm taking a shower?' Get it?

"Fine," She sighed trying to calm herself. "Could you leave? I'm going to take a shower."

"See? It isn't that hard, is it? And yes, I will leave." He nodded at her "And Karin, what are we going to do today?"

"Shopping," She replied casually.

"Shopping?" He asked disgusted. He had a step sister who loved shopping so much and now he had to stay with the girl who loved shopping too. Oh, he was in hell. "Why?"

"Because," She replied, even though she knew that he would probably have something smart to say about this. "I forget to bring a wedding gift for them."

And just as Karin expected, Toushiro did burst out laughing.

"Ha, you forget the wedding gift, that's important Karin."

"I figure that out already." She smirked a little.

"Well, I just give you a friendly reminder, that's all." He gave her an amused look.

"Thank," She replied rolling her eyes "Thanks a lot."

--

**Again, please review!! His step sister will appear soon... I think you all know who she is... **


	4. Chapter 4

**Here you go... chapter 4 XD**

--

A little while later, after the two had dressed and eaten their breakfast, they headed out on to the street to find Ichigo and Rukia's wedding gift. However, after walking for three hours, Karin still couldn't find the perfect gift.

"What's wrong?" Toushiro finally asked. He actually looked at her slightly concerned.

"I have no idea what to get them," Karin shook her head hopelessly. "I have had so much stuff going on right now."

Suddenly Toushiro stopped and pulled her closer. Karin just felt too bad to protest and for once she was glad she had someone to lean on, even if that person was her old enemy.

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay." He told her.

"Thanks," Karin pulled back for a minute and looked up at him. "Maybe that is exactly what I need."

They talked and walked for about ten minutes down the street even though Karin still couldn't find anything that would suit both Ichigo and Rukia perfectly.

"Are we almost done?" Toushiro whined. He knew he sounded like a little boy right now, but he didn't care, he just wanted to rest.

"Oh my god, tell me you didn't just whine." Karin rolled her eyes. To tell the truth, she didn't enjoy shopping either, but hearing his whining made her annoyed.

"So," He asked raising his eyebrows quizzically. "What if I did?"

"It's annoying," She frowned at him. "For once, can you stop annoying me? And no, we are not done yet."

"It would help a lot if you know what you are looking for, or at least tell me what you have in mind, so I can help you looking for it" Toushiro said and shrugged when he received an annoying look from her. "You know you should narrow your choices down a bit."

"I know exactly what you mean," She snapped and sat down on the bench she saw. Toushiro sat down next to her, but of course, with a safe distance away from her.

"I don't know. I want something useful. Something they can use forever, I guess."

Toushiro was quiet for a moment as he watched cars passing by on the street. Karin carefully looked at him from the corner of her eyes; he seemed like he wanted to help her sorting out the problem.

"I have an idea," He said all of a sudden and grabbed her hand. "I'm not sure if this will help actually, but I think you should check out this place."

"Where are we going?" She asked curiously.

"You will see." He replied dragging her with him. "I think you will find a wedding gift there."

"No, where are we going Toushiro?" She asked again wondering why he was being so secretive.

This time Toushiro actually grinned at her and Karin just couldn't help but grin back. Some people were just so magnetic when they smiled that you couldn't help but smile right back. Well, he was definitely one of those people and she was surprised that she had never realized it before. 'If only he could smile more often.' She thought to herself.

Soon Toushiro led her into a little store at the corner of the street. Surprisingly, he was right because Karin knew immediately that she would probably find a gift here; this store was filled with random things. In one area of the store, there was a room fulls of books, on another, there were shelves fulls of souvenirs and gifts. She had never known that there was a store like this in the town.

"Toushiro," Karin pulled on his sleeve and he looked down at her. "This is interesting."

"Yeah," He nodded. "I know you are going to like it. Follow me."

Karin grinned at him; it seemed to her that since she had that conversation about him not smiling in the morning, he had actually been much more willing to smile for her. A part of her nodded to the fact that they were in public and he couldn't act like himself because someone could probably catch that they were a fake, But for now, she was so happy to be like this.

"So," She asked. "Is this the place you are planning on taking me?"

"Yes," He said. "What do you think about it?"

"It's nice," She replied smiling, still in awe. "But how did you find this place anyways? It doesn't seem like a place you would come."

"I have been here several times actually," He explained. "When I was a kid, I came here with my step sister. And of course, she knew where to go or where to get nice stuffs because she loved shopping. Do you remember her?"

"Of course," She nodded playfully, thinking of the first time she saw his step sister. "I couldn't believe that she was your sister when I saw her for the first time. You were different than her you know."

"_Excuse me Mr. Takeshi. Can I see my little brother for a moment?" A pretty teenager walked into the classroom._

"_Mr. Hitsugaya," Mr. Takeshi announced. "Your sister is here, and she is waiting for you."_

_Karin immediately looked at Toushiro, her enemy, who sat couple rows away from her, and she saw that he frowned when he heard his name being called._

"_What the hell? He is allowed to have a guest in the classroom." She whispered to her friend who sat next to her sarcastically as she looked at him._

"_Shiro!" The teenager glomped the twelve year- old Toushiro when she saw that he was approaching her._

"_Matsumoto, release me now." Toushiro desperately tried to sound angry, but his voice came out muffled because his head was between his step sister's over-sized breasts._

"_What do you want?" He asked her skeptically once he was released. Well, he knew she wanted something otherwise she wouldn't come to his classroom._

"_Shiro! I'm your sister. Why do you call me by my last name? You can call me Rangiku."She faked a hurt voice. _

"_You' aren't my real sister. I can call you whatever I want. And why you are here anyways?" He stated bluntly. "Now tell me what do you want?"_

"_Well, I'm looking for someone to go shopping with. Can you be that person?" She asked smiling._

"_Well," Toushiro replied scratching the back of his head at the same time. "I guess I can go with you. Just don't take five hours like last time we went together. I have to go home early today."_

"_Oh, that's great! I will see you after class then and I hope you don't mind going underwear shopping with me." She said mischievously._

"_WHAT?"_

"_By the way, we are still in front of the class." She giggled before running away and waved her hand to him and the rest of the class. "Bye Shiro, and bye everyone."_

"_MATSUMOTO!" Toushiro yelled after her while the whole class, including Mr. Takeshi, burst out laughing._

Toushiro laughed at her tone. He was sure that she was thinking of the moment when Rangiku Matsumoto, his step sister, walked into the classroom and asked him to go shopping with her. Well, that was one of the most embarrassing moments he had in his life but he couldn't deny that it was nice to see Karin being playful once in awhile. It was nice to know that they were getting along at least for the moment.

After spending an hour looking through the store, Karin was starting to get hopeless. Although this store had many random things for her to choose, she still had no idea what to get for Ichigo and Rukia. And then, she saw the exact clock that she used to have at the house. She had always loved that clock, actually everyone in her family did because it was the clock that her mother bought. She knew that Ichigo would like to be reminded of home he had eventhough he was going to have his own family, and Rukia would simply love it as well because it was meaningful to Ichigo.

"Um, I think I have an idea," She said to Toushiro who was looking around.

"Oh," He asked. "What is it then?"

"A clock," She said excitedly "This one looks like the one we used to have at the house."

"You mean," He asked again pointing at the brown standard clock that was hanging on the wall. "This one?"

"Yes," She replied. "I know it doesn't look good enough to be a wedding gif-"

"Well, if you like it, then buy it." He said simply and walked towards the clock to look at the price tag.

Karin's spirits fell completely when she saw the price that Toushiro showed her. There was no way she had that much money to spend for a gift. 'Well, I'm shopping with him and he is rich. It's normal for him to buy expensive stuffs, I guess. But I already spent half of my salary buying a gift that I forgot." She thought.

"I don't have enough money," She whispered. "Come on, we will look for something else. Let's go."

"Oh no, we don't," He said and wraped his arm around her waist not allowing her to walk away. "I'm not going to look for a gift again. I want to rest now. So how much money do you have?"

"I can only pay half of the price," She said nervously. "Don't tell me you are thinking of hel-"

"I will cover the rest." He smiled.

"No," She looked at him shocked. "You don't have to."

"You said this was a perfect gift for them," He said.

"Yes, I do. But you don't have to help me paying for it. Well, You know I could just buy them something else. A set of china over there looks nice too."

"Don't, if this is a gift that you want to give it to them, then buy it and I'm going to help you." He said seriously. "Plus we're supposed to be a couple, even thought it's a made up couple."

"But.."

"Oi, stop it Karin. Do you want it or not?"

Karin almost felt herself go teary at this. So this was another side of Toushiro that she had never seen. He was actually generous when he wanted to be. At the moment she liked this side of him and really didn't want to fight with him anymore.

"Thank you," She said in a chocked whisper. "This gift is definitely better than the one that I forgot. I promise I will pay you once we get back."

"Forget about it. You can consider this a gift from me to your brother as well."

_--_

**XD**

**And please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**5th chapter... there you go Noka-chan... I decided to write this after receiving your menacing glare in the forum :P**

--

"Hey!" Rukia said happily as Toushiro and Karin appeared in the house. "You made it!"

"Of course we made it," Karin said smiling. She let go of Toushiro's hand in order to hug Rukia. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Karin," Ichigo came over and gave his sister a hug while coolly nodding at Toushiro. He knew from Rukia that Karin was coming to their wedding party with her childhood enemy. Well, he didn't know Toushiro enough to judge him, so he guessed he would have to wait and see. But he made up his mind that if this guy were going to hurt his little sister, he would have to pass him first.

"Hi," Karin heard Toushiro greeted Ichigo. She turned to see his reaction towards her brother and saw that he was a very good actor. He didn't let his friendly grin slipped which she guessed probably surprised Ichigo who was trying to look for something suspicious a lot.

"How are you doing?" Ichigo said smiling to his sister and ignored Touhsiro's greeting completely.

"I'm really good," Karin smiled "Toushiro and I just went downtown yesterday. It was fun."

She and Touhsiro exchanged a quick glance full of relief that neither Ichigo nor Rukia suspected anything about them, Even though Ichigo chose to ignore Toushiro's presence, she could still tell that he wasn't entirely against the idea of them being together, he just needed to get to know Toushiro better by himself first.

"So what are we doing today?" She asked Rukia who was reading a book on the sofa.

"Well, I don't know yet. Maybe we will just stay in the house, talking or playing game. You know it's not like we meet everyday. I think we should do that."

Karin nodded agreeing with Rukia.

"So, Toushiro, how did you and my sister meet?" Ichigo asked while he sat down besides his girlfriend.

"Well," Toushiro looked at Karin before replying. "We work together back in Tokyo. We aren't supposed to meet each other actually, but she was transferred to my department."

"You changed your department?" Ichigo asked her sister raising his voice at the same time. "How come you never told me about this?"

"Stop it, will you? She told me about this." Rukia cut in and said "But you never tell me that you meet him."

"It's a secret," Karin smiled sheepishly 'Damn, I forget that I tell Rukia about my job. What am I going to do? They will find out soon surely.' She thought.

"Yes," Toushiro said when he noticed that Karin trailed off. "Karin was right; it's supposed to be a secret. We aren't ready to tell anyone that we are together."

Karin immediately looked at Toushiro at this; she was so grateful that he rescued her. Even though she knew what he just said wasn't that hard to come up. 'He is nice. I can't believe we fight so often.' she thought to herself thinking back of the first night that they shared the same hotel room.

_The taxi pulled up next to the biggest hotel in Karakura town, Karin wasn't disappointed when she looked at the building; it was huge with at least fourteen stories and balconies on every floor but the first. She knew she had to stay with him and she wasn't surprised, considering that fact that he was the one who picked the hotel she knew he would probably picked the nicest one._

_"How much does it cost?" She asked him warily._

_"It doesn't matter because this where we are staying. I'm not going anywhere else." He paused before continued. "My father and the owner are friends."_

_"Of course you are," She replied darkly. It's Toushiro Hitsugaya she was talking to after all. The whole Hitsugaya family probably be friended with every owner of all the best hotels in every city. She knew even she went to the poorest city on earth with him, he would still know some hotel owners there._

_"I'm checking in." He said approaching at front desk. "A reservation for two for Toushiro Hitsugaya." _

_"Yes, of course," The woman at the front desk smiled. "You are in the suite up on the fourteenth floor. Here's is your key."_

_"Thank you," He nodded and smiled before draging Karin along with him._

_As the two walked to the elevators, Karin looked around in awe. When she asked Toushiro to help her, she hadn't thought that they would be staying in the nicest hotel in town. Now that she thought about it a little bit more, she shouldn't have been surprised. The hitsugaya always got the best, she knew that since she was in highschool. She noticed the floor and the wall were all marble and there was a huge indoor garden on the fifth floor. And the whole scene was so amazing to her that she had to force her mouth closed._

_"Pretty nice, huh?" He asked knowingly._

_Karin shook her head in disbelief._

_"You are speechless, I know," He said smirking. "Just wait until you see the suite we get to stay."_

_When they arrived to their room. Karin looked at everything in wonder. She knew Toushiro was right, this room was amzing and she just wanted to ask if she could just live there permanently. But of course, she knew he would just laugh at her so she kept her mouth shut._

_As soon as they settled in, Toushiro started talking about their plan._

_"So what you have in mind?" He asked looking at her. "We need a story, you remember?"_

_"Of course I rememeber," She snapped._

_"Alright I should've expected nothing less from you," He said raising one eyebrow quizzically at her. "So what's it going to be?"_

_Toushiro shrugged and sat down on the bed waiting for her answer, while Karin simply rolled her eyes and walked to the window._

_"Okay, I think we just have to act like we work together in Tokyo. You already used that when we were at the train station with Rukia, so I guess we will stick with that story. Let's tell them that we have been working together for awhile, and aren't enemy anymore. And well, everything between us just changed after I broke up with Masaru... Or maybe we can say that we hooked up at Kei's party. They all know that me and Kei are good friends, and it's not a bad excuse because you know her too. And I guess all you have to do is being nice to me and my family."_

_"Sounds okay to me." He replied smirking. "What about your ex boyfriend?"_

_"I don't care how you act with Masaru."_

_"Excellent," Toushiro clapped his hands together as an evil genius would, trying to come up with an amzing plan. "I'm going to enjoy this."_

_"I guess all we have to do is acting like we are madly in love." She said looking at him carefully._

_"That's going to be the hardest part." He sighed looking at her. "But I guess I cannot choose who to love."_

_"What do you mean?" She glared at him._

_"Oh, I'm tired," He said as he started to take his shirt off, ignoring her question._

_"What the hell are you doing?" She asked shocked. She had no desire to see Toushiro naked because he didn't deserve her look of wonder._

_"Taking a shower," He smirked. "And you better get used to this, because we are staying together for the next week."_

_"But you don't have to undress in front of me," She protested pointing at the bathroom. "We have a bathroom over there!"_

_And as soon as Karin said that, she kept her hands over her eyes. She wished he could take the hint and just leave. But no, she heard the click of a belt buckle unsnapping._

_"Can't you just go take a shower and leave me be?" She snapped. She knew he did this because he couldn't resist the urge to tease her or to get a reaction from her. Maybe if she stopped giving him one, he would stopped making her do stuff she didn't want to do. So she let her hands down, and decided to change the subject._

_"So how do you decide you want to do this?" She asked, didn't know what the question was for._

_"Come with me in the bathroom and I'll explain." _

_"I don't think so," She shook her head, squinching her eyes tight so that she didn't look at him. Although, in her mind, she thought that if she just look at him and admited that he was attractive, he would leave her alone. But the second thought told her that this would be stupid and he would think that he had won when he really hadn't._

_"Stop being so stubborn. You are a tomboy anyways, I can't believe that you even have a boyfriend."_

_"What did you just say?" She asked and opened her eyes forgeting about him undressing in front of her completely as the heat rised to her cheeks._

_"I said stop being so stubborn," He smirked._

_"No, After that." She said angrily._

_"I said stop being so stubborn. You are a tomboy anyways, I can't believe that you even have a boyfriend." He smirked again._

_"Don't you dare say that!" She yelled and slapped him immediately._

_"Ow!" He rubbed a hand across his cheek. "That hurts! What the hell was that for?"_

_"You are such a baby," She scoffed and turned on her heel to make her way out. "Enjoy you shower!"_

"Karin," Rukia called bringing her back to reality. "Do you think we should cook at the house or eat outside?"

"I don't know," She replied nervously. "Cooking seems to be a good idea. But you know that I'm not good with it."

"It's okay, I guess we are cooking then," Rukia said excitely. "But we have to wait until Masaru and his girlfriend get here first."

All of a sudden, a familiar and unwelcome voice appeared from behind them.

"Come on Karin," Masaru appeared out of nowhere and mocked her. "Stop being such a baby. I know you can cook, even though it's not that good."

"How do you get inside?" Ichigo asked Masaru when he saw that he appeared in the living room with a woman he didn't know.

"I have a key," Masaru smirked and gave the key to Ichigo. "Here it is. I forget to return it when I leave yesterday. By the way, here is my girlfriend, Hinamori."

--

**Bad place to end... I know... and review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**The credit for this chapter goes to Noka-chan, thanks you so much for giving me the idea. It's not exactly the same, because I change it a little...hope you don't mind.**

--

"Hi everyone," Hinamori walked in and smiled to everyone in the room. She looked around before stopped at Toushiro and Karin; her smile faltered as soon as she saw them.

"Hi," Toushiro said as he looked at her, his face showed no emotions. "Nice to meet you."

"Here is my girlfriend, Karin." He said. "I believe you have heard about her before."

"Of course, she has," Masaru cut in as he gave Toushiro a murderous glare. "By the way, I heard that we are going to cook at the house. What are we cooking then?"

"We can do something easy just for six of us," Rukia said trying unsuccessfully to change the mood of the conversation.

"I'm not sure," Karin looked doubtful. "I'm not so good at cooking and won't be able to help you that much. Shouldn't we order a take out and do something else?"

Ichigo, Rukia, and Toshiro looked at her thoughtfully. This was true though, they knew Karin was never been good at cooking; in fact they knew she had even burnt noodles without meaning to.

"Come on, I already told you to stop being such a baby." Masaru spoke after hearing Karin's excuse. "If you don't start cooking now. How can you cook?"

Karin was about to say something but Toushiro cut off first. He walked to Karin and held her closer. Karin craned her head to look up and saw that he was glaring at her ex boyfriend.

"Stay out of it. If she doesn't want to cook, then she doesn't have to."

Karin was grateful for Toushiro's protection, but she knew she wouldn't be able to shut Masaru up unless she showed him up.

"No." She said looking at Toushiro.

"Karin?" He turned to her. "You know we can do something else."

"I want to cook," She said firmly. She looked up at Masaru and glared at him and then back to Toushiro with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Will you help me cooking?" She asked biting her lips.

"Yeah sure." He smiled. "Of course, I will help you."

"Alright," Ichigo clapped his hands together. "We are cooking then. I'm hungry. Rukia, what are we cooking?"

"Wait," Rukia whispered. "Shouldn't we cook together?"

"No," Ichigo replied. "Don't you see the way they look at each other?"

...

Karin looked at the kitchen and sighed. She had never considered walking into a kitchen before and here she was, trying desperately to come up with something easy to cook for everyone. She looked back at Toushiro and wondered if he could really help her cook. Something told her that she was wrong about him, but then she couldn't believe that he could cook.

"Honestly, who doesn't know how to cook? If you couldn't cook, you would starve." Toushiro whispered to her when no one was looking at them.

Karin started to retort but she saw Masaru and Hinamori walked in the kitchen.

"What are we going to cook?" She heard Masaru asked Hinamori sweetly as they walked to the other side of the kitchen.

Karin refused an urge to curse out loud. She turned to glare at Toushiro instead ignoring the source of her sadness. It was a good thing that Toushiro was such a jerk otherwise she would probably fall in love with him the moment she saw the other side of him.

"Let me show you, maybe I could enlighten you," Toushiro smiled and winked at her. He too, pretended that they were alone in the kitchen.

Karin grudgingly followed Toushiro as he walked to a counter full of machines and appliances that she didn't recognize.

"What are we going to cook?" He asked as he watched her walked up to him.

"I don't know."

"Well, what about a meal and a dessert? Masaru must be shocked if we do that." He whispered. "If I have to help you then we are making a chocolate cake and the chocolate icing for them because this is the only thing that I can think of right now. But what do you want for an entrée?"

"I don't know," She looked at him. "You know that I don't cook normally, so just come up with something."

"Fine, then we will cook pork chops and salad."

"That sounds fine." She said smiling a little. "What do I need to do?"

"You wash up all the ingredients for the salad and chop them." He said and smirked "I hope it is not too hard."

Karin who tried to be nice and grateful that he helped her had to refused as urge to smack him on the back of his head at this. However she walked over to the cupboard and took all ingredients that were inside and carried them to the stove. Toushiro who was waiting for her to get all ingredients walked over and leaned against the counter next to her. He explained how to put the pork chop in an egg wash and then dredging them in flour and spices.

"It's your turn." He told her. "Just do what I just did. Remember we have six people here. And don't burn anything."

Karin muttered under her breath because she didn't like cooking at all, but she did what she had seen anyways.

"Now go get the vegetable out of the cupboard and cut them for salad."

"Okay."

"You know I can just burn this kitchen and make it look like an accident. I think everyone is going to think it's your fault." He said and smiled at her.

Karin rolled her eyes at his empty threat but didn't say anything because she was so focused on what she was doing.

Toushiro heard Karin chopping and he turned around to see her meticulously cutting the carrot so that each pieces was exactly the same size.

"This is not a chemistry class. Everything doesn't have to be measured, all pieces don't have to all be the same size" He told her softly.

"You know if something is worth doing, I think it is worth doing well." She said, not paying atttention to him.

"You know, it just occurred to me that I don't have to be here and do this." He sent her a withering glance and said. "I could just walk out the door and leave you to do this by yourself. I want to know what Masaru would say about this too."

"Please," She muttered. "You have been very good so far."

"Say something nice," He smirked. "Or I'm leaving."

"Alright, you are handsome. Is that enough?" She said raising an eyebrow.

"Well, that is not what I meant. But I guess it is okay," He said chuckling. "Let's be civil to each other for the duration of this cooking."

Karin smiled and nodded before continued to chop vegetable, while Toushiro went back to work on the pork chops.

"No, Masaru. Don't do that!" Hinamori said and laughed loudly on the other side of the kitchen. "You are distracting me. I'm trying to cook here."

"I didn't do anything." Masaru said and chuckled.

That was it, Karin who was chopping vegetables found herself too distracted with the anger towards Masaru. So she turned around to look at them and she found that Masaru was whispering something to Hinamori.

"OUCH!"

Toushiro who was in charge of cooking pork chops turned to look at her immediately.

"What happen?" He asked concerned, but the answer was already there right in front of him. Karin accidentally cut herself. "Are you okay?"

Karin nodded.

"Come here, wash your hand first." He said grabbing her hand and put it under water.

"I will go get a bandage for you." He said softly before leaving the kitchen.

"You are actually trying to cook." Masaru said and snorted as he walked towards Karin when Toushiro already left. He knew that she cut herself accidentally. The whole house would probably hear that 'Ouch!' from her.

"Just because you are jealous doesn't mean that you have to be mean to me." She muttered glaring at Masaru.

"I'm not jealous," Masaru whispered disbelievingly before looking back to Hinamori who still cooking on the other side. "I have my girlfriend with me here and why in bloody hell would I be jealous of that spoiled brat? You were probably desperate that you begged him. I know you are faking it. You wouldn't cut yourself if you were not paying attention to me and Hinamori's conversation. And one more thing Karin, I know what you look like when you are in love. I don't know what you are up to, but I intend to find out."

"Karin, are you okay?" Rukia asked interupting the conversation. "Toushiro just tell me that you cut yourself."

"Yeah," She said "Thank you."

"You do well for a first timer." Rukia said as she looked at vegetables in the plate.

"Thanks." Karin smiled at the praise.

Toushiro followed Rukia in the kitchen and gave a bandage to her.

"You don't have to do it anymore, I will do the rest." He told her.

"But I..."

"No." He said simply. "Rukia, you are preparing lemonade with Ichigo right? Can you take her with you?"

Toushiro watched Karin walked away with Rukia and took a deep breath. Although he would hardly admit it to himself that watching Karin hurt herself made him feel worried, he knew deep down that he would try to do anything to protect her now, including making sure that Masaru didn't come anywhere close to her. He had already seen the results to know that any future encounter between Karin and Masaru would not go well.

At that moment, Masaru passed by him with a glare.

"What?" He asked threateningly.

"What do you want?" Masaru asked slowly. "I don't believe that you and Karin fall in love. You don't act like you are in love with her, and she certainly doesn't fall in love with you."

"Just stay away from her and don't do anything that distracts her like that again. I swear I will kill you with my bare hands next time I see it."

"You wouldn't dare." Masaru hissed back.

"Try me," He warned. "And you will be sorry."

Masaru sneered at him and walked away. Toushiro took a deep breath and watched Karin, Rukia and Ichigo were laughing at something as they prepared lemonade. He smiled at seeing Karin loosen up. It's amazing how much by pretending to be in love with her, he actually starting to be. Suddenly, he realized what he had just told Masaru about messing with her. 'Oh no, it's not true I'm not falling in love with her.' He told himself, but deep down another voice told him that he was.

--

**Shikalllltema: I'm sorry I didn't make them play game. But playing game did cross my mind before I write this chapter...I just couldn't think of a way to hurt Karin because she seemed to bo good with something that was not a girlie stuff... cooking seemed to be something that Karin wouldn't do**

**Plese review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.**

--

Mararu paced the room quickly. He knew there was something funny about Karin showing up for Ichigo and Rukia wedding with Toushiro, her sworn enemy. The funniest thing was that when he tried to bring it up to anyone, they refused to believe him.

"_What's up?" Ichigo greeted him when he entered the living room._

"_You are late," He said. "Your sister was here with that spoiled brat. They just left together."_

"_You broke up with her remember?" Ichigo replied rolling his eyes. "And don't worry about that, Rukia already told me about them."_

"_So what if I want to get back together with her?" He asked._

"_That's not your choice to make," Ichigo said as he sat down on the sofa. "It's hers. From what I heard, she seems happy for the first time since the break up and everything. Give her a little space, will ya? Maybe we are wrong about that Toushiro."_

"_Maybe we are wrong about that Toushiro? Maybe we are wrong about that Toushiro?" He asked and gave Ichigo a disbelieving look. "You know they don't like each other since high school."_

"_What are you? A parrot? That's what I said! Why do you have to keep repeating it." Ichigo asked and stood up. "You know things can change. You change too, you are with someone else. And you're kind of being a jerk right now."_

"_I'm being a jerk?" He asked. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from you. You are her brother, you are supposed to worry about her."_

"_Stop it!" Ichigo snapped. "She is my sister and I know she was devastated when you broke up with her. What do you expect her to do honestly? Come alone?"_

"_No," He faltered. "I don't know. But I certainly didn't expect her to come with that brat. I mean, how unrealistic is that? Even if she doesn't hate him anymore, I still find it hard to believe that he will suddenly like her."_

"_It's weird I know," Ichigo said with a sigh."But after what happened just couple weeks ago just made me realize that everything can change. But like I said before, I'm happy for her."_

"_I still think there is something wrong with them."_

"_Whatever you do, I don't care. But if you hurt her again this time I don't think I'm going to forgive you." Ichigo stood up and headed for the door._

"I still think something is wrong and I intend to find out." he told himself and determined to get the truth before leaving the room. He knew Touhsiro and Karin would be back soon.

...

Meanwhile the couple in question was walking in the park and of course, fighting as usual. It was over something relatively stupid, but if Ichigo and Rukia were to see this at the moment, Masaru would be proven some kind of hero.

"I can't believe you cut yourself," Toushiro snorted laughing his head off. "I'm guessing that you are not paying attention? Correct?"

Karin rolled her eyes, struggling to keep her temper in check, even though with every passing second, she was getting more and more fed up with his comment.

"That doesn't concern you." She replied smugly. "By the way, why you do you take me here?"

"Nothing," He shrugged. "I think it's a good idea if you stay away from Masaru for while. You hurt yourself right in front of him, and that is not good."

"Me? I could say the same to you." She snorted.

"What do you mean?" He asked throughly confused.

"I know you know Hinamori." She replied, stopped walking and turned to face Toushiro.

"Don't change the subject, we're talking about you and Masaru."

"Not we, it's you. I'm not talking about Masararu." She snapped. "You know it's not that hard to tell that you and Hinamori know each other. She stoped smiling and went quiet when she saw you."

"No," He corrected and stopped walking as well. "Us."

"What do you mean?" She asked trying to get the truth. "Us?"

"I know Hinamori, but if I know that Masaru is dating her I wouldn't come here." He sighed and continued. "She was my best friend. Her father and my father were friends, so we knew each other since we were young. Well, we practically grew up together and she was the only person who can put up with me. We had a big misunderstanding between us, and we have't talked to each other after that. It's kind of awkward to see her here. I think she is shocked to see me with you here."

'So this is another side of him that I have never known.' She thought silently and studied him while he was looking at the sky.

"Well, that's not right. Your step sister and I can put up with you too." She said trying to distract his thought from Hinamori because she could see that he was sad. Somehow the thought of him being sad didn't sit well with her. "Do you have any idea how hard it is?"

"Oh, that's a hardship I believe." He replied sarcastically before smiling as he looked at her. "But thanks for listening to me."

"It's okay," She said smiling. "You help me. This is what I can do for you."

"I'm speechless." He replied chuckling.

"Is that speechless in a good or bad way?" She asked and started walking.

"Why do you have to shock me all the time?" He muttered to himself softly while looking at her. "It's hard to believe that we don't like each other before."

"What are you saying?" She asked and turned back to look at him.

"Nothing." He said walking towards her slowly. As he stopped right in front of her, he ran a finger down her cheek. Karin was sure that he was going to kiss her, but he didn't. He ran his hand over her hair and looked into her eyes.

"You are good like this. Don't let anyone make you doubt yourself."

"I..I..."

"Come on, we are going to be late." He said, breaking the moment by looking at his watch. "I said we are going for a walk for fifteen minutes."

Karin nervously glanced at him while they were walking back to the house. Why did he have to shock her all the time was a question in her head. One moment he was yelling and teasing her and the next he was calling and looking at her as if she was a most precious thing in the entire world. Well, no one looked at her that way since Masaru. And with that, the image of Masaru suddenly appeared in her head and another disturbing thought crossed her mind. Masaru knew.

"What's the matter? He asked sensing her tension.

"Toushiro," She whispered. "I think he knew."

"You think who knows what?" He asked clearly confused as he looked at her.

"Don't be an idiot," She snapped. "Masaru knows that we are a fake."

"Why do you think that?" He asked again ignoring the 'idiot' comment.

"Just the way he talked to me and the way he looked at me when you weren't there. I know he tried to pry the truth out of me." She said wringing her hands. "And I feel like sooner or later everyone is going to know."

"Listen," He said. "I can make anyone believes me. But here is the deal. I cannot do it alone. You have to help me too. You have to have the confidence to ignore him. All he is looking for is attention. Everyone knows he is jealous that you managed to come with someone else so fast and he is trying to prove you wrong. Don't let him do it."

"Wow, you are good." She said as she looked at him. He had just helped her gain confidence somehow.

"Thanks," He replied smirking. "I know I am."

"One day, your cockiness is going to come and kick you in the butt." She said smugly.

"Oh, it's not cockiness. It's a confidence." He retorted and followed her.

"Oi, shut up."

...

As they reached the house, Karin made her way slowly into the living room slowly. No one was there, so she figured that everyone would be in the backyard.

"Karin." Toushiro called her.

"What?"

"You forget this," He replied handing her a bracelet. "You dropped it in the park."

"Oh, thank you." She said before looking at the bracelet. "This is important to me."

"I know, I notice you wear it all the ti-"

Both of them stop talking when they heard the footsteps outside the door.

"Someone is coming. we may as well do this thank you properly." He whispered as he looked at the door. It was barely audible against her lips.

As he leaned in to kiss her and as their lips met. Karin had the same rush pleasure that she had gotten when he kissed her on the forehead at the train station, only this time it was stronger. He kissed her softly and then his kiss got more demanding when she opened her mouth. All around her, she could barely hear the cheers from Rukia who just walked in the the living room and saw them kissing. All she was aware was of the magic the moment it had begun.

Finally he pulled back and kissed her on the forehead.

"I will go talk to your brother," He said smiling, "Hi, Rukia."

Karin nodded, her head was still spinning from the strength and tenderness of that kiss. Was that what it was like falling? or should she say, pretending to fall for an enemy?

"Wait," Rukia called. "You don't have to go over there. You know Masaru is there, I don't think it's a good idea."

"And that's why I have to go." He replied giving Rukia a charming smile and winked at Karin before leaving the room.

"He's so cute." Rukia turned and squealed loudly in Karin's ear.

"I can't believe you would say something like that about Toushiro Hitsugaya." She shook her head and walked pass Rukia towards the kitchen.

"Oi, you're the one who's dating him." Rukia shouted from behind.

--

**There you go, Noka-chan and Shikalllltema, the kiss scene as you requested... and please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, here is a little confrontation between Toushiro and Masaru… for you AC Akasuna y Lilith Uzumaki**

--

Ichigo and Masaru were talking in the backyard. At the moment, an unmistakable presence walked in, and both of them turned in Toushiro's direction.

"How can you say that Karin would actually be dating a guy like that?" Masaru asked Ichigo.

Ichigo turned and looked at Masaru. It was in fact, the fifth or sixth time since he had told Masaru that Toushiro was indeed going to be here today. When Masaru had said that it would be weird because Toushiro shouldn't be there (for the wedding) at all, he had retorted by saying that even though it was weird, Masaru should be accustomed to it by now because it would be rude not to invite Toushiro. Plus, he was intrigued about this Toushiro who seemingly had his beloved sister in complete and utter happiness.

"There is just something that I don't like about him." Masaru mused.

"Well, just admit that you are jealous, or surprised that Karin find someone within a short time after breaking up with you," Ichigo laughed as he took a drink from his glass. "That is a better excuse."

"No, it's definitely not that. I mean, look at the way he walks." Masaru said trying to get Ichigo's attention. "He walks around as if he owns this place. Just like a Hitsugaya, a rich, spoiled brat I met in high school."

"He is a Hitsugaya, a rich, spoiled brat you met in high school." Ichigo whispered and chuckled.

At that moment, Toushiro walked over to the two of them.

"Hi Ichigo," Toushiro said, "And Masaru."

"How is it going Toushiro?" Ichigo asked. "You just got back from the walk right? And where is Karin?

"Oh, it's great," Toushiro smiled sincerely. "Who would have thought we are together? Anyways, she is with Rukia right now, having a girl time I guess."

"It's nice to see her so happy." Ichigo said simply while looking at Masaru who looked absolutely livid. "What is wrong with you, Masaru?"

"You are what's the matter, Toushiro," Masaru snarled instead of answering Ichigo question. "You may have everyone here fooled but I know you and Karin are up to something."

"Don't worry about it," Ichigo walked over to Toushiro and whispered. "He just had some bad food."

"The salad?" Toushiro asked chuckling as he felt Ichigo put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Ichigo turned to look at Masaru. "I guess so. I wonder what Karin put in that salad. Let's go ask her."

Toushiro nodded and turned with Ichigo in the direction to walk away from Masaru. There were headed to the house when Masaru grabbed him, spun him around and clocked him right in the nose.

As expected, Toushiro's nose started to bleed immediately.

"That is not cool," Toushiro said, standing with his arms crossed as blood dribbled down his face and onto his shirt.

"What the hell was that for?" Ichigo yelled loudly.

And his voice made Karin, Rukia, and Hinamori run to the backyard to see what was going on.

"He is a traitor," Masaru yelled back, clutching his fist at the same time. He didn't care who were looking at him. "He is not really in love with her. They are planning something!"

"Get out of here!" Ichigo snapped and pushed Masaru.

"Why are you making me leave?" Masaru, who was clearly under the influence of far too much alcohol, began slurring his words. "Make him leave!"

"He didn't do anything," Karin who just got there and saw the whole scene cut in. "You did this to him first! I think you should leave. You are drunk now."

"Masaru," Hinamori said softly as she came and held him. "I think you are drunk now, we better go."

Masaru tried to protest, but he stopped when he saw Hinamori was on the verge of tears.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry Shiro-chan," Hinamori said looking at Toushiro's face guiltily. She hated to see her best friend got hurt and she hated to know that her boyfriend was the reason.

_As a young girl, she was aware that her childhood friend, Toushiro or Shiro-chan, had always protected her. Their fathers were best friends and they practically knew each other since they day they were born. They went to elementary school together and when other children teased her about being weak and short, her Shiro-chan, who wasn't all that tall himself would tried to protect her._

_Men had not been a part of her childhood except him, because she found them hot-tempered, clumsy and unmindful. And that was why she was so scared of being close to them. However, there was one guy who came into her life later and she knew he was supposed to her future. He was __Aizen Sousuke and he__ was different. They met each other in high school and were together after that. She was impressed with him; he looked utterly confident, in control and totally graceful. She thought he was kind and considerate, and in him, she could feel safe and protected. _

_When Aizen had a financial problem after graduation, she hurriedly convinced her father to let him work for her family's company. But of course, things didn't turn out as she expected, when she walked in and overheard the conversation between her father and Toushiro, who was interning there one day._

"_Do you really think he steal from this company?" Her father asked._

"_I do," Toushiro replied. "I have already checked everything and I have a proof."_

"_I cannot believe this," Her father said disbelievingly. "Aizen is Hinamori's boyfriend and he had been working for this company for so long. What are you going to do Toushiro?"_

"_I have called the police," Toushiro said. "But Aizen has fled already. I think it's going to take some time until we get him."_

"_I see," Her father said simply and sighed. "I will leave this to you. You can take care of this instead of me. _

"_Okay."_

"_And Toushiro, if you don't mind, please take care of my daughter. I think she is going to have a hard time believing this."_

"_I will," Toushiro replied. "Don't worry."_

"_No!" She whispered softly to herself. This was too hard to believe._

_Not long after that, she decided to talk to Toushiro personally and the result wasn't what she expected too._

"_You know Aizen is not a good guy, he no longer works for this company. He steals from this company, Hinamori." Toushiro tried to warn her about her beloved boyfriend, but she didn't believe his words._

"_Do you ever think he will come back?" She asked him softly, knowing that it was impossible for her boyfriend to come back. But she couldn't believe what everyone, including her best friend, told her about her boyfriend, not until she asked him herself._

"_No, he won't" Toushiro replied before walking away. "I'm sorry Hinamori."_

"_But Shiro-chan, you know everyone makes mistake." She said grabbing her best friend's hand._

"_Hinamori!" Toushiro yelled clearly frustrated. "Can't you understand?"_

"_But Shiro-chan"_

"_No," Toushiro continued while shaking her. "You have to let him go! The police will take him back soon."_

"_He just made mistake!" She yelled at him. "You have to forgive him."_

"_Killing people and stealing is not mistake!" Toushiro yelled back as he stared at his best friend with his cold blue eyes. "He is not the Aizen you know anymore. You have to forget him. The guy you know never existed, he just uses you." _

_With that, she simply stood there ignoring everything around her because her heart was broken at the brutality of her best friend's words. _

"_No, that isn't true. Aizen just make a mistake. I know he loves me and he will come back."_

Hinamori knew they haven't talked for a long time since Aizen's incident. She was worried about Toushiro. Deep down she knew what he did was right, but at that time, she was just too blinded by her love for Aizen to see that. Even though she had moved on now, she couldn't believe that she let it get between them; the whole Aizen's incident seemed to cause a problem in their friendship.

Toushiro looked at Hinamori's face for while. He wasn't sure if she was saying sorry for what Masaru did or for the Aizen's incident. But he knew she meant it.

"It's okay," He said simply not really looking at her face.

Once they had gone, Karin turned back to Toushiro.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly and handed him a napkin.

"Yeah," He said. "Thank you."

"What's wrong with him?" Rukia said looking at the door.

"I don't know." Ichigo said and shook his head in a hopeless manner. "Just ignore him."

But Toushiro couldn't ignore Masaru. He now had a sinking suspicion that Karin was more right than either of them had realized. He had to do something about it or their secret would be revealed, and Karin would be left humiliated forever. And now he was worried about his best friend, Hinamori, too. She had been through a lot. Who knew what could happen to her after this?

--

**This chapter focuses more on his relationship with Hinamori :) but don't be scared because this is not HitsuHina story. They are just friends, and that's it. I just give you their background, that's all. And please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Many people probably wait for this…they are in love! But they still think they are acting anyways…However after this chapter, I feel like I should change to T rating. And yeah, this is their moment together, a little hotter than usual but I'm not going that far. Hopefully you will enjoy it because I think this is better than the last kiss. :P**

--

When Karin returned very late at night because she wanted to stay longer at her house with Ichigo and Rukia, Toushiro was already back. This became obvious when she saw a dark figure slumped over in a chair in front of the bathroom. She didn't want to wake him because he looked so peaceful sleeping there, but she knew that eventually he would wake up with a crook in his neck, which would not make him a very happy Toushiro Hitsugaya.

She saw the moonlight reflected off of his skin and hair. She just knew that his hair looked silver when it is reflected to the moonlight like this. She studied him carefully and noticed the taut way he slept. It was as if he didn't want to relax even in sleep. 'Is it that hard to relax?' She thought to herself silently.

At first being with him had been very hard, but she was surprised at how easily the two of them were getting along. It was as if he was a completely different person. 'He is a completely different person. He told me that he would help. When this is all over, he will go back to being the same Toushiro Hitsugaya and I will be just Karin Kurosaki." She reminded herself again. But for some inexplicable reason, this reminder saddened her dramatically. Why did it bother her so much? She hated Toushiro as much as he hated her. She felt no differently. His kiss today didn't do anything to her and when he talked to her softly, comforting her, it didn't really matter. Or at least that was what she told herself. As she watched him sleep, she felt softened and affectionate towards the man in front of her.

Sighing, Karin collapsed on the arm of the chair. A little too loudly or hard obviously because a moment later, she felt the movement of a jerk as Toushiro quickly awoke from sleep, She though he had been expecting her to do that all along.

"Karin?"

"Sorry." She whispered in response. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay," He yawned. "I wasn't sleeping"

"Yeah," She snorted a very unladylike snort. "I believe that."

"Are you mocking me?" He asked raising his eyebrow. "I know whether or not I was asleep. I felt you watching me."

"I don't know Toushiro," She replied shaking her head. "I think you are lying."

"Do you always assume things?" He stood up very close to her.

"What are you talking about?" She said taking a step back because she knew they were very close right now.

"Well," He said walking forwards to close the distance between them. "You just assumed that I was sleeping and when I told you that I wasn't, you assumed that I was lying."

"No," she laughed nervously at how close they were together. She was under scrutiny and all she wanted to do now was run and hide somewhere. "I mean that is what you have always done. You can't change in an instant."

"So are you saying that I'm acting?" He asked raising his eyebrow.

"I mean," She said again trying to gain control. "You can't change for real in an instant."

"Are you assuming things again?" He sighed.

"No," She shook her head and then made to turn away.

"Wait!" He said pulling her back towards him.

Karin was forced to look at him, searching his eyes for any answer why he was doing what he was doing.

"I was thinking," He told her. "That Masaru knows too much."

"What?" She looked at him in horror.

"I can think of something."

"And what's that?" She whispered.

And then, his lips were on hers. The whole world seemed to disappear in the instant as Karin felt her knees go weak. His kiss shut off any part of her mind that might have resisted temptation. She only spared a single thought wondering how Masaru knew about this before his kiss completely enfolded her. She sighed in pleasure and tried to ignore the nagging voice in the back of her head that she probably shouldn't be doing this, especially right after breaking up with Masaru and especially not with Toushiro.

"Karin." He whispered softly sensing her hesitance as he stopped kissing her and looked at her. His eyes searched her gaze in a way that she felt completely safe. "What's wrong?"

As soon as he stopped, Karin's thought was brought back to reality brutally. What was going on with her? This was Toushiro she was kissing! And he was her sworn enemy since high school and this was just a plan that wasn't supposed to be real.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" She asked softly touching his hair.

"Masaru doubts the legitimacy of the whole thing," He said leaning down and began to kiss her neck. "We should be really close and we should act like we believe it."

"But we are just acting right?" She asked feeling that what he was saying was beginning to make sense.

"Exactly," He replied as his lips met hers again. "We're just acting."

Somehow Karin realized how easy it would be to lose herself in the plan she made and she found that she really didn't mind.

...

Today was a party day, Ichigo and Rukia decided that they were going to have a small party for everyone instead of a bachelor and a bachelorette party. The difference in relationship between Toushiro and Karin wasn't substantially different to most people in the party even though they were surprised to see them there together. In fact, it was only apparent to Masaru that something between Karin and Toushiro was different. Suddenly their chemistry seemed stronger and they looked at each other like they were in love. This new presence of a different type of chemistry disturbed him. Had they caught on the fact that he was getting suspicious? It certainly seemed as if something between had changed overnight and it made him furious. But the worst part for him was the fact that Hinamori wasn't there with him because she had an emergency and had to go back for her work in Tokyo.

"So," Masaru heard Ichigo. "When is the wedding? You and my sister look so happy you could burst."

"Oh," Toushiro grinned and joked loudly. "It's next week. Everyone here is invited. It's next Friday."

"Toushiro! Stop it! We are not getting married." Karin said throwing her head back and laughed. She whacked Toushiro on the arm flirtatiously.

"You look so cute together." Rukia commented.

Masaru looked at them. He had to admit that they looked like a picture. Karin was wearing a pink dress and Toushiro matched her perfectly with a black shirt that looked new. Considering that it was Toushiro, he knew it probably was.

"Thank you," Karin replied smiling. "And you look beautiful today too."

Masaru looked at Rukia and he had to admit that Karin had a point. Rukia did look very beautiful today. Ichigo was indeed a lucky man to get Rukia's love and Masaru knew that he knew it.

Meanwhile, Toushiro didn't deserve Karin at all. And he was determined to do something about it. All he need was a right evidence to prove that he was right. What he would prove and what everyone else would think about it, he didn't know.

--

**I'm not going to be able to update this story next week, so I'm posting this chapter today :) And sorry that it's shorter than usual.**

**And again, please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, I'm back!! XD haven't updated this story for two weeks because I'm so busy, hopefully it's not too long for you guys... I feel the pressure (in a good way) when I see how many people put this story on their alerts and I feel like I have to update it as soon as I can...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.**

**--**

After party was over, Toushiro patted Karin on the leg and told her to follow him outside. So, excusing herself from everyone, Karin followed her very handsome date out. The sun beat down from above and the air was stifling, but Karin breathed it in. Since she had been here, she hadn't realized how much she missed her hometown. And for the first time in her life, she felt like she really enjoyed Toushiro's company.

"Are you still impressed by how good I look today? Toushiro asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as he felt that she was looking at him.

"Yeah, right. I can say the same thing you know." Karin answered sarcastically rolling her eyes at the same time. Well, he looked good alright, but she was observing him. Miraculously, he changed a lot; he seemed friendlier and happier, not to mention he was also nice to Ichigo and Rukia. She had to admit to herself that for some reason, his personality made him more attractive to her. And of course, she knew she couldn't tell him that.

Toushiro snorted loudly at this.

Karin just laughed and kept walking down the street. She wasn't really sure what Toushiro had in mind, but she didn't want to ask him either. Eventually they ended up making their way into the soccer field.

"This place hasn't changed at all," She smiled widely and made a comment when she knew where Toushiro was taking her. "Why are you taking me here anyways?"

"I don't know," He replied scratching the back of his head at the same time. "I have always liked this place."

"You?" She asked surprised. "I haven't seen you here. You played game with us once, but I haven't seen you here after that."

"Well, I have always liked the spot over there, I hardly came to this soccer field." He replied smiling. "I know, come with me, I will show you. I think you're going to love it. It's quiet and you can see the entire town from that spot."

"Really?" She asked interested.

"Yeah," He said and took her hand. "By the way, you have never told me about why you and Masaru broke up."

"And should I tell you because?" She asked raising an eyebrow as they were walking.

"Because I want to know," He shrugged. "I mean, I only knew that you and him breaking up, and he is now with my childhood friend, but I don't know what really happens between both of you.

Karin sighed and kept walking.

"I mean, don't tell me if you don't want to. That's fine. I just thought that maybe you want to talk about it, that's all." He continued as he looked at her. He was certain that she wasn't going to tell him. In truth, he didn't really care for his own knowledge, but for Karin's well being.

"Let's go over there." She said simply pointing at the bench. She didn't expect that question from him, and somehow she could feel herself relieving the nightmare all over again "I will tell you what really happened."

_It was just a night when I hurried to the grocery store to do some last minute shopping. Masaru was getting back from a conference that night. He had called me earlier in the day saying that he was going to be a little bit late and perhaps I should just go and meet him at his place so that he wouldn't have to keep me waiting any longer._

_I know it sounded weird that we were not living together, but he was always weird about sharing his space. Well, not that I complained, I wanted to live by myself too after moving to Tokyo with Yuzu. I guess it had something to do with the fact that both of us had always been with family, so we felt like we need some space for ourselves._

_However, when I arrived at his place, I saw that he had left me a note saying that he had some stuff to do and he would be back as soon as he could. I didn't really think much of it because I know where he hid his key, so I figured that I could go inside and waited for him, it wouldn't make that much of difference anyways. __I didn't remember exactly how I found out or what really led to my discovery, but once I got in his place, I just felt really cold. Masaru liked to have his place super cold and I didn't know why. So the first thing I did was heading to his bedroom to get a sweater because I left it there intentionally for this reason. _

_Well, needless to say, when I opened the door, there was a man and a woman in the room. More specifically, it was Masaru with this gorgeous girl whom I presumed he had met at his conference. I heard him call her 'Hinamori'. __It all got kind of blurry after that, but I found out later that he actaully hadn't been at the conference that night and he had been having an affair with her for about a year behind my back. I remembered both of them looking at me. Hinamori certainly looked shocked and guilty. Masaru simply looked furious. But seriously did he think that I was so stupid and wasn't going to find out? That being said, I turned on my heel and left immediately._

_I went to see Yuzu that night and cried for a long time. I forced her to make a promise that she wouldn't tell anyone about this, especially Ichigo and Rukia. Well, actually I didn't have to do that, because that was the last night that Yuzu was with me. She got a scholarship and she had to move to America soon. So Yuzu just pretended for me that she didn't know anything about it. No one else knew what really happened between us. All of our friends thought that we just broke up because we didn't feel like it anymore including Ichigo and Rukia._

_To be honest, I was so ashamed. I felt so stupid that I didn't see this coming. What made me even more angry was that whenever I went over in my head the last year, I saw all of his excuses on missing dates of ours as opportunities to cheat. I just felt so used and so stupid._

_How could I have been that stupid?_

Coming back to the present time, Karin felt tears streaming down her face. It had been awhile now, but everything just felt like yesterday. She had been so naïve and stupid and it haunted her everyday. Toushiro's arm found its way around her shoulders as he leaned over and kissed her on the head.

"I'm sorry," He said. "I shouldn't ask you."

"Well, it's not your fault." She replied smiling. "You have nothing to do with it Toushiro."

"Hinamori is my friend." He said. "I don't expect her to do something like this."

"But you have nothing to do about it, and Hinamori didn't know that Masaru was my boyfriend too. So it's not her fault as well."

"Okay," He said. "So that was when you decided to write me?"

"Yes," She nodded. "I was so desperate to look like I was okay after that in front of Masaru. The wedding is coming and I know that he is going to be here for the wedding."

"How come Ichigo doesn't do anything about it? He is close to Masaru at least that's what I think."

"He doesn't know anything, remember? I'm just too proud to admit this to anyone. It's better that this way. They just think that I'm having a hard time breaking up with Masaru because we have been together for so long."

Toushiro was silent but still kept looking at her.

"Why did you answer me anyways?" She asked again looking at him while trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. "You hated me."

"I don't know," He replied looking at the soccer field and shrugged. "I guess I'm just bored and I want a challenge in my life."

"And I was a challenge?" She asked stunned. "How?"

"Well, you said it yourself," He replied chuckling. "I hated you. Isn't it enough? Imagine how hard it is to pretend that I'm in love with you. But I think the appeal of torturing Masaru overcome any other reason I might have had anyways."

"So you were doing this just to have fun?" She repeated.

"Come on Karin," He teased. "You know me better than that. You told me once when we were in school that you would die of shock if I ever did something for other people."

Karin threw her head back and laughed at this.

"Well, that was true. You were like that."

"But I think you are wrong when you said that I hated you. I don't hate you now. In fact I thi-"

"Oh, I forget how long that story takes to tell." She said as she was looking down at her watch. Now she was desperate to try to change the subject of their conversation because she was certain that she knew what he was going to say. It wasn't like she didn't feel the same but she wasn't ready to hear it. She felt her face grew warmer when she thought about the kiss they shared last night. She knew she was blushing, in fact, she thought that she was inventing new shade of red on her face . "We better get back, they are probably wondering where we went."

"Okay." He said knowingly as he took her hand and helped her getting up. "Let's go back to your brother and say goodbye to them. We have to wake up early and go to their wedding tomorrow. And we have to keep pretending again."

But as they walked back, they didn't notice that another member of the party was discreetly following them.

--

**Now you know that someone is there with them...Do you think they can pull this off? But I will tell you right now that Matsumoto and Hinamori will come back soon :)**

**You just have to find out in the next chapter. And again please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm updating today XD... so yeah, 2 chapters this week... **

**the bad news is this chapter has a lot of drama and it's quite heartbreaking for Torin fans (I suppose), but the good news is this is the only heartbreaking chapter in the story. So you have been warned before reading it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. The only character I own is Masaru, and you can hate him all you want, because I expect you to. XD**

--

At the wedding, Masaru was the last person that Toushiro wanted to see. Everyone was off making their last minute of preparations and as Masaru approached, Toushiro braced himself for an encounter that he sure was going to be altogether unpleasant. After Karin had told him about the break up and how Masaru had cheated on her. Well, it wasn't surprising that his hatred for Masaru had further deepened.

"Well, well, well," Masaru smiled widely. His expression left Toushiro uneasy and he was rarely every uneasy. "Aren't you the man of the hour?"

"I believe you have mistaken me for Ichigo," Toushiro replied covering up his uneasiness quite easily by simply lifting an eloquent eyebrow. "I'm surprised that you forget, you are here as a the best man."

"No, no, no," Masaru threw his head back laughing. "Ichigo might be the one getting married today, but I think it's you that everyone is talking about."

"And why is that?"

"Why? This is easy to answer Toushiro. Because you changed a lot, you seem friendlier now and suddenly Karin is all over you. Actually she starts acting like every other girl in high school, and it is annoying to see that."

"Well, I can be charming when I want to be." Toushiro replied deciding to play it off lightly.

"Yes, yes," Masaru smirked. "Very charming. I can see that."

"So let me ask you something," Toushiro crossed his arms in front of his chest as he glared at Masaru. "You are not trying to be nice to me, I know that. I'm not stupid and you are not too stupid to think I'm going to fall for your trick. So why don't we get straight to the point? What is your purpose?"

"I simply don't understand something." Masaru replied as he began circling Toushiro.

"And you better stop that," Toushiro began mirroring the opposing man's movements. "Everyone here might think that we are about to get into a fight."

"Maybe we are, maybe we aren't." Masaru shrugged. "If you cooperate, then perhaps we won't have to."

"And what make you think that I'm going to cooperate with you? I never did, and I have no intention to do something like that." Toushiro stopped moving.

"Why is it that you suddenly show up here with Karin, after we split?" Masaru stopped and stepped closer closing into Toushiro's boundaries with no respect for personal space. "No one had any idea that you were together and suddenly, instead of hating her like you used to, you are dating her.

Toushiro tried to walk away; he didn't really want to get into a fight, at least not here. Masaru was out of his mind and frankly he didn't want anything to do with him. It was, after all, all he could do to keep himself from making Masaru permanently unconscious for what he had done to Karin and his best friend. Unfortunately, he didn't get very far. A moment later, he was being swung around to face Masaru. They were very close to each other and all Toushiro did was laughing.

"You are kidding Masaru," Toushiro snorted. "You are not actually going to try and fight me here in front of everyone."

But before Toushiro could do anything else, a fist came across his face. He could barely think besides that he couldn't believe that Masaru was hitting him like this a second time. All of a sudden, a hugh wave of anger washed over him, and he could no longer control himself like he had when he was at the house. Poor Karin had been wounded and hurt when she found out that Masaru had been cheating on her, not to mention the fact that his best friend, Hinamori, had also been fooled too. How could someone did that to both of them? Karin had been close to tears on the walk yesterday when she recounted her tale. And it was with that thought that he aimed his punch and let it fly right across the side of Masaru's face. Masaru went flying and it was then that all the guests looked up.

"I know all about you and Karin," Masaru snapped as he was lying on the floor with a huge bruise on his cheek. "I can tell everyone!"

"Yeah, okay," Toushiro snorted. He knew that Masaru didn't have the balls to tell everyone whatever he was talking about. "I know a little something about you to. So if you spill then maybe I will just let my mouth run away with me."

By now, the crowd had gathered and for some reason no one bothered to try to pull Toushiro off Masaru. In fact, Toushiro believed that everyone here wanted to hear what Masaru had to say. But with the look that Masaru turned on Karin who was standing close by and looked shocked, he knew that this wasn't going to be good.

"I loved her in school," Masaru spat out. "After we started going out, I got sick of her. Everything she did drove me nuts."

If the room could have gotten anymore silent, it did after Masaru's confession.

"Then why do you stay?" Karin walked in and asked.

"Well, I guess the sex was good," Masaru snarled. He knew it wasn't the truth. The reason he didn't want to break up with her was because they were together for so long. He may not love her like he used to, but the idea of her walking away from his life was unbearable.

A collective gasp echoed around the room and Toushiro punched Masaru hard across the face. No one rushed to his aid, not even Ichigo or Rukia. The confession from the man that they thought they all knew so well shocked them and no one was quite sure of what to do.

"You deserve that." Toushiro stepped back, shaking his fist angrily.

Again, no one tried to shut Toushiro up becasue they all knew he was right. After awhile, Rukia stepped up to Karin and pulled her into her arms. Toushiro looked up at Ichigo who had a grim expression on his face. The rest of the guests began to surround Karin offering their comfort.

"And you think that Toushiro here doesn't do anything wrong, do you?" Masaru's voice echoed loudly and clearly from the floor gaining everyone's attention again. "He and Karin have lied to all of you, and I think it will shock you if you know the truth."

"Karin was apparently too ashamed to come here alone," Masaru smiled menacingly as he looked at his ex girlfriend. He didn't want to do this at first but his anger took control. "She just asked Toushiro to be her date."

Karin stiffened at this as she noticed that all the guests were looking at her. Toushiro, on the other hand, felt as if he was in the middle of a haze. He had definitely not planned for this to happen.

"I think you want to know, how did I find out?" Masaru continued as he looked at Karin's pale face. "I followed you yesterday when the two of you snuck off. I guess you will think twice when you divulge secrets in public. I was simply waiting for the right moment. I know you were hiding something that that if I caught you at the right time I would find out everything, and lucky for me that I know all about it now."

Karin couldn't believe that Masaru had just told all the guests that. But what was more, how had he known about it? It wasn't like she and Toushiro went around advertising the whole thing. And then, she felt everyone in the wedding began murmuring and whispering as they looked speculatively at her and Toushiro. Even Ichigo and Rukia were looking at them oddly as if everything was beginning to make sense for them.

Excusing herself, Karin slipped outside immediately. She had no idea how she was going to face everyone anymore. She asked Toushiro to help her because she couldn't stand if someone knew the truth behind her break up with Masaru and now it was turning into something bigger. Damn Masaru, why he had to go and ruin her entire life? Where was the nice guy that she remembered from school?

Sitting down on the steps once she walked out of the room, Karin put her head in her hands. She heard foorsteps came from behind her but she ignored them.

"Karin?"

It was Toushiro's voice. His voice had become so dear to her over the past few days to the point that the thought of making him go away would nearly rip her heart apart. Unfortunately, she had to do it. He had to go because there was no pretending anymore. The truth was out and she was left where she had started.

"What do you want?" She asked. Her voice was muffled.

"I just want to see if you are okay," He replied trying to take her hand.

"Do I look okay to you?" She asked back and pulled away quickly. "Can you honestly say that I look okay Toushiro?"

"I'm sorry," He said. "But you can't take this out on me. It's not my fault."

"No, it's not your fault," She said bitterly. "But whatever, I will be fine. You can just go back to your regular life. After the wedding, I will just go back to Tokyo."

"No," He shook his head. "I'm not leaving you now. Your brother is probably going to kick Masaru out of here now that he knows everything."

"Obviously he is not going to do that, Toushiro." She snapped. "Look, just get out of here. We don't need to pretend anymore and I know that's what you are doing."

"That's not what I'm doing!" He looked at her disbelievingly. "I'm actually here trying to comfort you and make you feel better."

"No!" She stood up and looked at him. "Go away, I don't believe that you will actually care about me. You never will!"

"Fine!" He said angrily as he stood up. "But I'm leaving because you ask me to. I know that Masaru hurt you. But here's the thing, I'm not Masaru and this is not pretend. I thought you would have been smart enough to realize that."

With those last words, Toushiro turned on his heel and strode out of her life as quickly as he had come. And all Karin could do was looking at his back and walked the other way.

--

**I'm not going to end it like this, don't worry XD…I just think it will be too weird if I make them fall in love without solving the pretending issue. And I think Masaru should find out at some point because he had been trying to figure it out for awhile. If they fall in love, they should realize it by themselves, don't you think? and you can expect Matsumoto in the next chapter...**

**And please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**There you go, I update this a lot faster than usual...XD... hope you like it. This chapter is extra long, I don't know how to make it shorter :-S**

--

It seemed like everything that could have gone wrong on the day of the wedding did right after Toushiro left. The weather that had been so nice the whole week before disappeared and the man leading the ceremony got sick right before the ceremony. And all Karin could think about was Toushiro. Sighing to herself, Karin looked down at the kimono she wore; the fabric of the kimono somehow seemed to fit her perfectly. She looked beautiful in it but she was on the verge of tears when she walked back to see everyone in the room. Right now all she wanted to do was run away and go hide in a cave until she started to feel differently about her whole life.

It would have been easy to tell herself that everything was going to be okay, but unfortunately she couldn't quite get her mind to believe it. Who knew where Toushiro was, he probably was off being on the train going back to Tokyo right now and maybe he was flirting with someone on the train. For some reason this thought didn't exactly sit well with her. In fact, it made her feel unbelievably sick to her stomach.

Turning back to the ceremony that was going right before her very eyes, Karin took a deep breath and told herself to focus. She couldn't allow her feelings (if she could call them that) for Toushiro get in the way of her brother's wedding. She would probably be the one who ended up being a teary mess by the end of the whole affair but she wouldn't be the one who burst into tears in front of everyone. Slowly she looked over at Renji, Rukia's best friend, who had willing agreed to stand in for Masaru as the best man. She saw Renji nodded at her and smiled in a way that said that everything was going to be okay. She couldn't help but smile back and then had another strange thought cross her mind. What if Toushiro hadn't left? Would he have been prepared to take Masaru's place as her brother's best man? And would her brother have even wanted him to? Shaking her head to get rid of her thoughts, she focused on the ceremony as she watched Ichigo and Rukia exchanged their vows.

When Karin arrived back at the hotel room that Toushiro had generously continued to cover for the remainder of their stay, which was the next day at noon, she collapsed in the chair where she had caught Toushiro sleeping only a couple nights before. An overwhelming wave of memories swept over her at the thought of kissing and being held by Toushiro. She began to cry, because she didn't understand why she missed him so much. However a knock on the door interrupted her tears, and she got up to open the door to find that Rukia was standing there waiting for her.

"Rukia?" Karin asked. "What's the matter?"

"Everything," Rukia replied as she slowly walked into the room. "You saw the wedding. I mean, I don't know what happened but everything seemed to go wrong. Masaru turned out to be the biggest ass on the planet, Toushiro left, the whole wedding was a disaster, and now your brother had last minute business to attend to."

"What?"

"I guess we can't leave tomorrow for our honeymoon as planned." Rukia told her.

"No," Karin narrowed her eyes. "This is completely unacceptable. What the hell would he have to do that is more important than going on your honeymoon as planned? That idiot, I swear I'm going to kill him for leaving you like this."

"I know," Rukia said simply before chuckling a little. "Actually we just got into a big fight about it."

"The joys of being married," Karin said wryly. "Congratulations."

Then both of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Rukia decided to ask.

"What are you going to do about Toushiro?"

"It was a weekend thing," Karin shrugged before answering but she knew she was trying to convince herself more than Rukia. "It's more like a business deal. It's like a one-time thing, now that it's done, I guess we are both going back to our regular lives where we will never see each other again."

Rukia gave Karin an odd look, and Karin felt her stomach clench up when she saw it. It was true that she and Toushiro would never saw each other. But something could happen. What if they didn't see each other for a year and randomly ran into each other at the supermarket. What would happen to them? Would they both act like nothing had happened?

"You know you can't forget about it Karin," Rukia said quietly. "Both of us know that it wasn't just a one- time thing. I think you really fell in love with him and I suspect that he feels the same way."

"I don't know," Karin shook her head slightly. "Somehow I don't think he is feeling the same."

"Just give yourself a little credit Karin," Rukia smiled. "Being childhood enemies doesn't mean that you have to be enemies for the rest of your life. Plus, he doesn't seem like a bad person."

...

Toushiro paced around his apartment for the millionth time. Since he had gotten home, he had immediately tried to call all his friends for parties because he has to get Karin out of his head. All the way back on the train he had been wondering whether leaving had been such a good idea. But how could he have stayed after what had happened? It would have been impossible. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and he turned his head to see Matsumoto, his step sister, walked in without asking for permission. The moment he saw her, he realized that the only person he would want to call had crossed the room and thrown her arms around him.

"Oh, Shiro." Matsumoto said affectionately. "You are back. I miss you so much. And what kind of mess have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"I fell in love with her Matsumoto," Toushiro told her seriously. He still refused to call her 'Rangiku' as usual.

"I know this going to happen," Matsumoto said excitedly. "But now what are you going to do?"

"Well," Toushiro shrugged. "I doubt I will ever see her again. Not to mention that everyone at the wedding knows the truth. This is embarassing."

"Well, I'm sure you will dig your way out," Matsumoto smiled sweetly. "By the way, it's time for dinner now. Do you want to have dinner with me? It's not like we see each other often."

"Sure."

At dinner, Toushiro decided to tell Matsumoto everything about Karin.

"Well," Matsumoto said after hearing everything. "You sound very much in love with her."

"I am," Toushiro sighed. "But you know nothing will come of it."

"So what?" Matsumoto snorted and smiled mischievously. "If you are thinking about our family. Let me tell you, Gin is not even coming from a rich family."

Toushiro laughed. Matsumoto had always been more open-minded than anyone in the family. She acted as she was supposed to obviously but she was everyone's favorite at parties simply because she could converse with anyone. Right after his mother passed away, his father married Matsumoto's mother because of business deal. He found Matsumoto extremely annoying at first, but for some odd reason, they became best friends who talked about everything once they grew up. They balanced each other and some time he couldn't help but wonder what made Matsumoto see the world in a way that he had never gotten to experience.

"Wait," Toushiro furrowed his eyebrows. "Gin?"

"Yup, my boyfriend," Matsumoto replied and grinned. "Don' tell mom and dad, they are going to have a heart attack."

"Could have fooled me," Toushiro shrugged. "But your secret is safe. Don't worry."

"I have an idea." Matsumoto's face lit up.

"And what is that?" Toushiro asked. He still couldn't stop thinking about Karin but with Matsumoto around, at least he wasn't having any bad thoughts about her or their lack of future together.

"I'm leaving for Fiji tomorrow." Matsumoto explained. "I was supposed to go there with Gin, but he canceled me on last minute because of some family thing he wants to do. Considering the state you are in, I think you better go with me."

"I have some work to do. You know there is always a paper work at the office," Toushiro said skeptically. "Plus I can't just leave not having dealt with this problem. What about Karin?"

"Some space away will do you good Shiro," Matsumoto urged. "You need to relax and don't use a paper work as an excuse with me. You know it never worked."

"And you think it will be that easy, do you?" Toushiro asked motioning to the waiter for the check.

"That's the general idea," Matsumoto smiled. "But don't worry, I think we will think of something when we are there."

"Fine. Fine. When do we leave then?"

...

As soon as Toushiro arrived at the walkway of the five-star resort that his father (or in this case, Matsumoto's step father) owned in Fiji, he knew Matsumoto was right. Ten days of lying on the beach or by the pool would do him a lot of good. He could eat amazing food, rule the hotel, catch up with his step sister, and more importantly, has time to think about everything. Both of them were greeted well and treated even better as it became apparent to all the hotel stuff that their bosses were there visiting. Placed into the executive suite, Toushiro flopped down on his bed and took a deep breath.

'Come on, Shiro." Matsumoto appeared behind and threw something at him. "Change! We are not going to stay here all day."

Toushiro smiled at his step sister and head to his private bathroom to change. He then suddenly realized something; he had hardly thought about Karin at all since Matsumoto suggested that they came here. Maybe this could really work. Then he would be able to come back and find her and tell her how he felt about her. Either that, or Karin was just a passing thing that he would remember fondly but would never go anywhere. For some reason, the last thought he had about Karin didn't sit well with him. Shaking himself slightly, he pulled himself together and then walked out into the main room where Matsumoto in pink bikini was sitting in a wicker chair with her leg resting on the glass table.

"Sake?" Toushiro asked raising his eyebrows when he saw a bottle of sake on the table.

"This is nothing," Matsumoto replied. "Do you want some?"

"Nope," Toushiro shook his head. "I don't drink. You said we are not staying in the room, so let's go find something to do."

They were sitting at the lobby, talking and planning their vacation when Toushiro saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen entered the lobby, accompanied by a small black hair woman. These two young women looked strangely familiar to him even from the distance that he stopped talking to Matsumoto to look at them, and then he heard Rukia's laugh. It was an unmistakable sound and this could only mean that Karin was in Fiji too.

"Shiro," Matsumoto looked worried "What 's the matter?"

"She is here." Toushiro replied quietly.

"Karin is?" Matsumoto asked, surprised as Toushiro felt. "Which one is she?"

"She is with that small woman. That small woman you see is Rukia, she is the one who just got married," Toshiro explained. He didn't understand what was Rukia doing here without Ichigo? He had heard that they were going to Fiji for their honeymoon. But Why was Karin here? And where was Ichigo? "Karin is the taller one, the one with the longer hair."

"Oh, I see her," Matsumoro got up and jumped to try to get a better look at Karin "Oh, She is cute! Good choice as usual, Shiro."

"Shut up!" Toushiro snapped and tried to drag Matsumoto away "I don't want them to see us. I'm not ready for this."

His whole world seemed to be falling apart. Who knew what it would be like to see and talk to Karin again, especially when he wasn't expecting it. Well, he supposed he would find out sooner or later. Because like it or not, they just happened to be staying at the same hotel.

Fate could be cruel sometimes.

--

**XD... so how was it? Please review**


	13. Chapter 13

**You can take this as my apology for breaking up their relationship in chapter 11 XD**

--

Fiji was perfect. Karin did feel bad that Rukia hadn't been able to come and enjoy this with her brother but apparently he had promised them a two-week vacation in a month. At first she had reluctantly agreed to come even though she was quite disappointed that Ichigo and Rukia hadn't been able to go to the honeymoon right after the wedding. But all the same, she was happy to be here with Rukia, enjoying the perfect weather and beautiful warm water. This was like a dream come true for her after everything.

"How are you feeling?" Rukia asked when both of them are walking on the beach.

"About what?" Karin asked back curiously as she stopped walking and turned to look at the sky.

"I don't know," Rukia shrugged. "About Toushiro maybe."

"I don't know," Karin replied when a pang of sadness burst through her. "I feel bad about what I said to him, I know it was mean, but he just got up and left. What am I supposed to do about that? Asking him to stay? You know I'm not like that."

They were silent after that. Both of them spend the rest of the day hanging out on the beach. Karin's thought constantly wondering over what to do with Toushiro. She had agreed to come with Rukia originally to get her mind off him but it seemed that it was not going to be possible because her thoughts were going over a million different outcome s to her and Toushiro's relationship. Eventually, she had to admit that their relationship wasn't resolved, but how it was going to be she had no idea. Now she just hoped that everything would work itself out in due time. It always did.

...

It was in the evening that Toushiro got a note from the manager of the restaurant saying that they would love it if he would come down and greet the guests at the party. Why would he do that, he wasn't sure, but for some reason, in a nod of generosity, he agreed. Soon, he found himself standing at the door of the nicest restaurant in the hotel, and of course, the most expensive restaurant on the island.

"Mr. Hitsugaya?" asked an older couple.

"Mr. and Mrs. Takada," Toushiro smiled politely and nod his head. "How are you?"

"We are enjoying Fiji as usual," Mr. Takada replied and winked. "And we love this hotel."

"You have grown up so much," Mrs. Takada beamed. "And you look just like your father."

That hadn't exactly been what Toushiro wanted to hear, but he smiled politely all the same and then motioned to the hostess to seat them.

The dull evening seemed to last forever. As Toushiro said hello after hello to what soon became faceless strangers. He started to wonder when he was going to get to leave. Damn Matsumoto for leaving him here alone on Saturday night. Why his step sister knew so many people, he didn't know. But she had gone out with some friends that she had run into earlier and left him alone in the hotel room. And now everything seemed to be boring without her because he had nothing to do.

Well, nothing to do, until fate seemed to step in.

Toushiro was walking to the men's restroom when he accidentally ran into someone. Looking down to say he was sorry to the poor woman, his eye widened when he saw himself reflected in her eyes.

"Karin? What are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same question." Karin replied. She looked as shock as Toushiro felt.

"I own this hotel," He looked at her smugly. "Didn't you know?"

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," She looked at him suspiciously before continued. "You are a Hitsugaya. You own everything."

"This is a part of being rich, I suppose," He shrugged. "More importantly, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't know I was here?" She asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah right," He rolled his eyes. "Because I keep track of every guest that walks in and out of these doors. Guess what? I don't care about my guests that much."

"I see,you haven't changed one bit," She shook her head. "Still the same old Toushiro Hitsugaya that I know."

And with that, Karin turned on her heel and walked away. Toushiro turned and sighed, closing his eyes to try and keep all the emotions he was feeling at bay. So this was what rejection felt like. If he had to feel it like this from Karin one more time, he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it. Although then again, it wasn't like he had made such a good start himself. Apparently, when they saw each other again, they fell right back into being enemies. Looking at his watch, he wondered how many more chances he would get before Karin walked out of his life forever.

...

"Are you serious?" Matsumoto was shocked that she was practically yelling at her step brother. "You actually said that."

"Yeah, I did." Toushiro said in an angry tone directed more at himself than at his step sister for questioning him. He knew that there was a reason that she didn't snap back at him and he admitted it. "I was so stupid."

"Um, yes," Matsumoto answered bluntly. She was never afraid of him even she knew he was glaring at her at the moment. "I can't believe you said something like that. If she is going to hate you forever, you can't complain about it, it's your fault. What are you going to do now? I mean, you can't just let her get away, can you?"

"I'm so not equipped to deal with this right now."

"Oh, come on," Matsumoto groaned. "Will you stop being such a boy right now? You run our company smoothly. Don't tell me you can't deal with this. Why don't you just tell her that you love her?"

"Because I'm not clear of my feeling myself." Toushiro huffed.

"Oh, really?" Matsumoto shook her head before continued. "It's so obvious to me. I know you have never been capable of loving someone like that."

Toushiro gave Matsumoto a glare again.

"Don't give me that look," Matsumoto cut in before Toshiro was able to say anything. "You know I'm right. You have been dating a lot lately but Karin is the person who finally breaks the chain. You might not love her, but you are in love with her. So just be in love with her. She is probably as confused as you are."

"How would I do it?" Toushiro asked. "I can't just tell her you know. Don't they say the actions are clearer than words? I think it's quite clear to Karin that I don't want anything to do with her."

"Well, you are right," Matsumoto smiled mischievously. "Why don't you change your action then? I suppose flowers would be a good start."

...

There was nothing that could compare to being courted by Toushiro. When Karin received one hundred red and white roses the next morning, she didn't even have to read the card to know that it was Toushiro who had sent those flowers. Rukia, of course, was the one who had to answer the door when four delivery men carried in bouquets of twenty-five roses.

Rukia had heard all about the embarrassing exchange that had happened the night before in front of the men's restroom and about how Karin had no idea which angle that Toushiro was coming from. It was pretty obvious, at least to her, now which angle he was coming from. If Karin had had any doubt before, it should have been erased.

"Damn it," Karin cursed loudly as she looked at the roses. "Why does he always have to do this?"

"Do what?" Rukia asked as she admired the roses by burying her nose deep inside the petals. She sighed in contentment before continued. "I wish Ichigo would send me the roses like this. Obviously, he really isn't that romantic."

"Focus," Karin sighed. "You already got your happily ever after."

"Yeah," Rukia snorted. "And my prince seemed to miss the memo of a romantic honeymoon."

Karin laughed at this.

"So what do you think about it?" Rukia asked looking at Karin carefully.

"About the roses?" Karin asked. "They are nice but I'm just worried he is trying to buy my love."

Rukia rolled her eyes. Well, she loved Karin dearly but this time she knew Karin really did read into things way too much. Normally Karin wasn't a person who overanalyzed things before and it surprised her to see that this time the brilliant mind of Karin thought of the worst possible outcome as opposed to the best. She could tell that Toushiro was trying to apologize for what he did, but there was no way that she would be able to drill that through Karin's somewhat thick skull.

"Frankly, I like the roses." Rukia shrugged before walking away.

...

Toushiro paced in his room, he didn't get a response from the one hundred roses that he had given Karin earlier that morning. What was it with her? Maybe it wasn't the right idea that he took his step sister's suggestion after all. But he knew every other woman would have swooned to see so many roses devoted to her and her alone. But did Karin swoon? His honest answer was NO. Karin he knew in high school wouldn't appreciate it if someone sent her flowers and tried to win her heart. Plus the way he reacted when he saw her was so bad that he knew this time Karin was probably too busy overanalyzing his every single movement. Hopefully, Karin would end up with the conclusion that he was trying to love her instead of trying to buy her.

But then, he found that he didn't care about what Karin would think that much, he relished a challenge. He knew winning her was not going to be easy, and this was the first time that he didn't actually care about winning but also keeping the prize. For now, he couldn't think of the future though, because if he did think about it without Karin he became incredibly depressed.

Sighing, he thought about his next plan to attack, without Matsumoto's help this time.

--

**Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**So, nothing happens in this chapter yet, but it gives you the background of the ending. Yup, it's getting closer to the end now. XD**

**--**

Karin and Rukia were eating lunch the same day of the flower display at a little café in the hotel. Over delicious ethnic cuisine, Karin made a small talk with Rukia as her mind kept going over all the possible things that Toushiro's flowers could have meant.

"Hello?" Rukia waved her hand in front of Karin's face trying to gain her attention. "What are you thinking now?"

Karin didn't even have to say anything in order for Rukia to understand where she was coming from. Rukia simply knew her too well, that was why they were so close. But before Karin could say anything back to Rukia, she received a note from the waiter. She looked confusingly at Rukia before decided to open the note.

_Karin, _

_I hope you are not going to throw this away after reading it._

_I know that it hasn't been easy between us. Actually I don't think it ever was, with us not liking each other in school and then the whole fiasco that just happened, but I just want to let you know that I'm not trying to buy you out by giving you flowers._

_Toushiro Hitsugaya._

Karin had tears in the eyes when she gave the note to Rukia. As soon as Rukia finished reading it, she glanced at Karin and gave an I-told-you-so look. Immediately, Karin knew how wrong she had been about Toushiro, so she got up and excused herself. There was one more thing she needed to do before she could give Toushiro another chance. They really needed to talk and this time she needed to find him.

Karin asked the waiter where Toushiro was and she finally found him on a sailing dock. He was rigging up a boat.

"Hi" Karin said gulping.

Toushiro wheeled around quickly, not sure if his ears were tricking him or not. When he saw that Karin was actually standing there, he nearly smiled because he knew he finally got her attention.

"What do you want? I'm about to go for a boat ride." He spoke first when he realized that all Karin did was just standing there and kept quiet.

"Um, I just come to say that I got the roses that you sent me," She replied awkwardly.

"Thanks," He shrugged looking completely unaffected from her pronouncement, which for her had taken a lot of effort. He knew it's wasn't easy for Karin to be this emotional or to admit that she had been wrong.

"Is that all you are going to say?" She asked slightly annoyed and angry. Just what the hell was wrong with him? She had come to thank him and all he could do was staring at her?

"Is that all you are going to say?" He repeated her question, his arms folded across his chest. "Because if it is, then I think I'm going to get going."

"No, I…" She narrowed her eyes at him. "What? Why are you so angry with me?"

"Because I'm making all the effort," He snapped. "And it's hard for me. And here you are, coming as if it is an effort for you to take my gifts. I put my heart out on the line and got nothing back. I guess I'm done with all this. I have to go."

And with that, Toushiro turned and walked onto the boat, leaving a bewildered Karin standing alone on the dock.

...

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Rukia asked Karin for the third time as she was preparing for the snorkeling trip. The day before, when Karin had gone unsuccessfully after Toushiro, she had met a family of four who had invited her to join them.

"No," I'm fine," Karin replied. "I'm going to stay here."

"Okay," Rukia shrugged and left. She knew Karin didn't like the idea of being in water because of her mother's tragic death. But for some reason, she had to ask. She knew Karin was strong enough to take care of herself, but she was worried about her especially after what had happened the day before with Toushiro.

Karin and Toushiro were more similar than they thought. They were stubborn and they wouldn't admit the fact that they loved each other because they were scared of getting hurt. To be honest, she wasn't surprised. Masaru had apparently never loved Karin. She knew this fact still made Karin angry. Toushiro, on the other hand, probably hadn't had that many successful relationships either. Somehow she wished there was a way to make them see how perfect they were for each other, but she just didn't know how.

"Hi Rukia!"

Rukia smiled at the sight of the family's three year old daughter running up to meet her. Seeing this happy family made her miss her own. She just wished Ichigo was here with her.

"Hi, Ruka." Rukia squatted down on the sand and opened her arms to the little brown haired girl. "How are you doing?"

Before Ruka could answer, her parents and her older brother, Akemi, came afterwards. After his sister moved aside, Akemi also jumped into Rukia's arms

"Hi," Rukia hugged Akeni while looked up at his parents, Juro and Ayumi.

"They wouldn't stop talking about you," Ayumi replied grinning. "I'm glad you can join us today."

"Thanks for inviting me," Rukia replied politely before turning to Akemi and Ruka. "So, are you guys excited to go snorkeling and see pretty fish?"

"Mmhmm." Both Ruka and Akemi nodded eagerly.

Rukia soon followed the family onto the little sailboat that would take them a good distance out to a nice reef where they would the best snorkeling. However, she found herself looking curiously at the blond woman walking towards them. This woman looked somehow familiar even though she was positive that the two of them had never met in their entire lives.

"Hi everyone," The woman walked towards them. "Nice to meet you. I'm going to join you today. I hope we are going to have fun together."

"Hi," Akemi asked curiously. "What is your name?"

"My name is Rangiku Matsumoto," Matsumoto laughed, her eyes brightening with amusement. "What is your name?"

"Akemi," Akemi said sticking out his hand and Matsumoto shook it firmly. "Nice to meet you too."

"That was a nice firm grip you've got there," Matsumoto said approvingly causing Akemi to blush in the way that only a seven year old boy can.

After that Matsumoto went around and introduced herself to the small group that would be going on the boat with her. But she looked curiously at the black haired young woman that was with the family and yet obviously wasn't a part of it. This woman looked very familiar and even though they hadn't met, she was sure that she had seen her somewhere before.

Once they got aboard, Matsumoto made her way to the black haired woman.

"I'm sorry, but have we met before?"

"I don't think so," Rukia replied politely. "I'm Rukia Kurosaki."

"So you are Karin's sister-in law?" Matsumoto smiled widely. "I'm Toushiro's step sister, Rangiku Matsumoto."

Rukia looked at Matsumoto warily.

"You know, I'm all for the match," Matsumoto said and shook her head, assuming that Rukia knew everything that was going on between Toushiro and Karin. "I just don't know how to get them together. I don't know Karin very well. But it sounds like she is stubborn."

"You have no idea," Rukia muttered softly and nodded, noticeably relaxing now that she knew Matsumoto wasn't a threat. "Toushiro is stubborn too, at least that is what I heard from Karin."

"He is," Matsumoto smiled. "But he hasn't been like this before. I think it's time to take drastic action."

"For sure," Rukia agreed.

"So," Matsumoto asked holding out her hand. "Are we in this together?"

"Sure," Rukia replied shooking Matsumoto's hand, sealing the deal. "Don't tell anyone, we are going to get killed if they find out."

...

The door slammed behind him as Masaru rolled his eyes, collapsing on the sofa and taking a deep breath. Who did Hinamori think she was, demanding that the two of them break up now that he and Karin were obviously over? Sure, Hinamori was too emotional and needy sometimes, but the last thing he wanted right now was to be pulled away from a relationship, because he really needed it as a nice distraction.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to see Hinamori ever again, but frankly he didn't care. Something was nagging at him and he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Karin didn't care about him. Perhaps it was the fact that he saw her with Toushiro. But he knew he didn't like losing.

_Masaru started to regret his actions. He should have listened to everyone about thinking before acting. He shouldn't have challenged Toushiro at first, and now he was the one standing on the ground horrified with the results._

"_Shiro-chan!!"_

_He could hear hoots and cheers from his classmates, or in this case, Toushiro's fan girls, everywhere. All of them were cheering for the white haired boy who was standing at the opposite side of the soccer field. It was amazing that that the challenge caught many people's interest and somehow everyone had to watch them playing soccer against each other. Yeah right, the school captain was playing against the most popular boy in school. How interesting was that?_

"_You seem confident that you can beat me." Toushiro smirked after knowing that he was the winner."You know what to do after this."_

_He glared at Toushiro dangerously. He could remember the first day they met at school; everyone in the class, especially the girls, was so excited to see Toushiro Hitsugaya simply because he was rich and good __looking. Personally, he found Toushiro annoying and uninteresting, and he really didn't understand why Toushiro received a royal treatment from everyone._

_He scowled and closed his eyes. This was bad. He couldn't believe that Toushiro beat him in his own game. He was certain that he could win because he was a captain of the soccer team and had won many games for school. It was predictable that he would win this game. Damn, this was going to be a pain on the neck; he could imagine everyone talking about how Toushiro won this game by the next day and he knew this was going to be something he regretted for the rest of his life._

"_Now, you have to keep our promise; you are going to have to do homework for me for the whole month." Toushiro spoke before throwing his textbooks at Masaru. "I hope I will get this back tomorrow."_

There was no way he was going to let Toushiro come out on top this time, no matter what he had to do.

--

**I'm just making sure you understand this chapter. So basically Toushiro had his own plan but he was really mad at Karin too, Matsumoto and Rukia were planning something together (I can't resist the temptation of making them doing something together, sorry!!), and well, Masaru.. you know he is a bad guy...**

**And again, please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry, it takes time to update this chapter, and it's a little short… I'm kinda busy but I'm trying to post this, so that you don't have to wait. :)**

--

Karin looked heavenwards as she looked up to the sky. She had chosen to walk on the beach by herself before she was supposed to go back to the hotel room and waited for Rukia to come back. The reason she has sought a quiet evening on the beach was because her mind seemed to be going in a ton of different directions. And the reason for all the confusion was of course, Toushiro Hitsugaya. She really couldn't figure him out. One minute he was professing his love for her and then the minute she tried to reciprocate, he turned and walked the other way. What could they not get right? Maybe he was sick of her, or maybe she was just kidding herself. But what about the wedding week that they had spend together? The entire time had been wonderful and she had cherished every moment of it.

Sighing softly, Karin turned back towards the path that would take her up to the hotel room where she was supposed to meet Rukia. Perhaps hanging out with Rukia was what she needed to clear her head. She wondered what Rukia planned for tonight.

"Karin," Rukia called loudly when Karin walked into the hotel room. "What are we going to do tonight?"

"Tonight?" Karin raised her eyebrow. "I don't know. If we don't go out and do something, I guess I will stay her and watch TV."

"Um, there was a nice Latin nightclub at the hotel. I'm thinking that maybe we should go there tonight. We don't have anything to do anyways."

"Fine," Karin hesitated and then smiled. "I don't have a problem with that. Going party would be nice too."

...

Karin hadn't gone to nightclub in what felt like years and as soon as she walked into the club, she felt excitement start to kick up in response. Suddenly it didn't matter that she had no idea what was going to happen with Toushiro. She was here now and all she needed to do was having fun. Maybe finding someone to dance with would be nice. She was certain that it wouldn't be that difficult too because she felt a number of eyes look her over as she walked in. It was a good idea that she let Rukia choose her outfit for tonight after all.

"See," Rukia said the two of them made their ways to the bar. "I told you this was a good idea."

"Yeah, yeah," Karin waved her hand in the air, writing off Rukia's brag. "I forgot that you are always right."

"Damn right, I am," Rukia winked at her. "Oh, excuse me but I think I'm going to go dance."

"Fine," Karin replied rolling her eyes when she saw a handsome looking native was looking at her sister-in-law. "Just don't do anything that will get you in trouble with my idiot brother."

"Don't worry. I will be a good girl." Rukia winked.

And with that, Rukia was off. Karin was left watching Rukia and the random man dance on the floor. She sighed, though she longed to go out there herself, she would wait patiently until someone came approaching her and asked her to dance. She had already had her experience in approaching first with Toushiro and she knew how unsuccessful it had been. She wouldn't make that mistake again.

...

"Come on Shiro," Matsumoto pleaded. "Just dance with me, you know everyone will expect us too."

"Matsumoto, this is a Latin nightclub." Toushiro groaned.

"So?" Matsumoto rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "You know I didn't drag you here so that you can make this kind of face. I just want you to have fun!"

"Yeah," Toushiro looked pointedly at her. "I know, but it's weird for brother and sister to dance with each other. Don't you think?"

"Wow," Matsumoto huffed and grabbed his hand. "I can't believe you are thinking like this. Stop being twelve and come dance with me. Or you can pretend I'm Karin."

Immediately Toushiro glared at her.

Matsumoto shrugged. Her step brother's glare didn't affect her at all. She knew it was the wrong thing to say to him; she could see it the minute she said it as darkness shrouded his blue eyes. But she wanted him to pull himself together and followed her out to the dance floor.

...

Karin had come back from the restroom by the time both Toushiro and Matsumoto stepped on the floor. She was shocked to see Toushiro here and her breathe get caught when she saw that he was dancing with a woman she didn't know. Somehow her traitorous mind began to imagine what it would be like to dance with him.

"Well, they look good together, aren't they?" Rukia asked, elbowing Karin in the side.

"The best." Karin replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh, don't tell me you are jealous," Rukia threw her head back and laughed. "If you are anymore obviously jealous, I would feel sorry for you."

"I'm not jealous." Karin practically growled at her sister-in-law.

"Right," Rukia winked. "Sure, you aren't. Why don't you dance with him then?"

"I don't want to dance with him and I don't want anything to do with him." Karin spat out, only slightly truthfully.

"You know, the woman you see dancing with him is his step sister."

"Rangiku Matsumoto?"

"Yeah," Rukia replied smiling. "She is pretty, isn't she?

"Yeah, she is." Karin narrowed her eyes. "But I haven't told you about Rangiku Matsumoto. How do you know her?"

"Oh, well," Rukia paused trying to come up with the excuse that could save her, but she found none. Luckily, the native man whom she danced with came to her with a drink. "Oh, thank you."

Karin looked at Rukia dangerously as she still waited for the answer.

"I will tell you later tonight." Rukia whispered before turning to talk to the native man.

The song ended soon after wards. Both Toushiro and Matsumoto exited the floor gracefully. Karin bit her lip nervously as she realized that they were heading towards the bar, not far away from her. This Latin nightclub was small and intimate after all, it would be impossible if Toushiro didn't see her soon. Deciding to ignore them and not let them ruin her night, she turned away.

...

Toushiro nearly balked when he realized who the gorgeous woman who was sitting at the bar was when he was heading there with his step sister. Why the hell was Karin everywhere he went? It was as if she refused to let him get over the agony he felt if not being to be with her.

"Why don't you dance with her?" He heard Matsumoto whispered.

"We are done." He replied softly.

"I don't think so," Matsumoto shook her head and smiled thoughtfully. "You look miserable all the time. Just ask her to dance and then apologize to her. Maybe you would be surprised at how much easier it will be to talk to her after you dance together."

"Oh,yeah," He raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"I don't know." Matsumoto shrugged and looked away. "Oh, Rukia is here as well."

"You know," He looked at her step sister suspiciously. "I'm wondering why Karin is here, and it's surprising that you can remember Rukia when you only see her once."

"Don't look at me like that," Matsumoto looked at him teasingly. "You don't think I'm planning this, do you?"

Toushiro didn't answer.

"Come on," Matsumoto laughed. "You are unbelievable. How can you think I'm going to do something like that? Honestly I don't know Rukia. Now just be nice and ask Karin to dance with you!"

Toushiro wasn't sure if he could believe Matsumoto. He was sure that everything that happened here tonight was a set up, but he knew he couldn't get the truth from her. Sighing, he didn't know what made him do it, but he approached Karin as if he didn't have butterflies swimming in his stomach.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked over the music.

"Why would I want dance with you?" Karin replied looking at him carefully as if she was afraid that he was going to yell at her or something but replied in a haughty tone.

"Because I know you haven't dance all night and because I ask you to." He didn't give up.

"No," Karin shook her head. "I have to go actually."

And with that Karin stood up from her stool and nodded to Rukia who was for some reason in the middle of a conversation with Matsumoto. She was about to walk away when suddenly she felted a hand grab her and pull her towards it. Looking disgustedly at Toushiro, she made to walk away again, but he did it again, until finally, she gave in.

"Fine," Karin spat. "I will dance with you. Just don't bother me after this."

"Fine," He shrugged.

Toushiro took Karin's arms and started to move around the floor with her. They were dancing very close. Both of them could feel their anger melting away as they were cuddling and looking at each other. The moment when they danced together seemed to last forever. Unfortunately, the song soon came to a stop and Karin felt herself wobble slightly by the effects of dancing with Toushiro.

"I will get you a drink." Karin heard Toushiro whispered softly as he led her off the floor and towards the bar.

"Okay,"

Soon Karin heard a voice at the side of her head.

"I don't know you are a pretty good little dancer."

Thinking that it was Toushiro, Karin turned to smile but gasped as she found herself looking into the furious eyes of Masaru.

--

**Um, please review :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**More IchiRuki?? Oh, you have got your wish, AD Starr... XD**

--

"Masaru!" Karin felt her voice rise in anger and surprise as it suddenly set in who she was looking at.

"Trouble in paradise?" Masaru asked lifted one eyebrow mimicking Toushiro but fail miserably.

"That's none of your business!" Karin replied feeling her voice rise against her better judgment. She tried to control herself because she knew the last thing she needed to do was losing her temper with him. He knew exactly how to take advantage of it. "What are you doing here? I simply went on my vacation because I need to clear my head of many things and somehow you decided to follow me, even though you have absolutely no business in my life anymore."

"I think I know why you have been having problems with Toushiro." Masaru replied smirking.

"Oh, and why is that?" Karin put her hands on her hips.

"I think you are still in love with me." Masaru replied sure of his own brilliance.

Karin looked at him incredulous. How could he think such thing? Was he really that stupid to that that all this time, after everything that he had done to her, that she was still in love with him?

"You are the most ridiculous human being I have ever met!" Karin replied taking hold of her senses and slapped Masaru hard across the face. "I'm ashamed that I was hung up on you for so long. And no, for your information, I'm not in love with you anymore. I'm in love with someone else entirely."

And with that, Karin pushed her way out of the nightclub, leaving Masaru's mouth wide open. For the first time after breaking up, she really felt free and it felt so wonderful.

...

Rukia had no idea where Karin had run off. After she had seen Masaru got slapped in a way that he totally deserved, she hadn't followed Karin out of the club, figuring that Karin probably needed some time to be by herself. She soon picked herself up and walked gracefully out of the nightclub as she could manage. For the first time since she had been here, she felt angry with Ichigo. She supposed she had been keeping her anger and hurt underneath layers of worry for Karin's wellbeing and now that Karin had seemingly came to her senses, her original feeling could finally fester out in the open. She couldn't believe that Ichigo had willing cut off their honeymoon and no matter how much fun she having with Karin, she knew it couldn't replace the feeling of betrayal the she felt for her beloved husband.

Rukia finally entered her room and took her shoes off. Looking around the darkness of the room, illuminated only by the moonlight streaming through the open windows, she jumped at a shadow on the chair.

"Who is there?" She asked and walked to turn on the light.

The one and only Ichigo Kurosaki was seated on the chair and she could see the bouquet of red roses that sat on his lap.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, finally managed to find her voice.

"I come to say I was sorry," Ichigo smiled. "I don't deserve your forgiveness and I don't expect it. But I was at the office and I started to wonder why I was even there. I missed you and I wondered why I was there instead of being here with you. "

Rukia stared at him, shocked and not quite able to really take in exactly what he was saying. It felt as if she was stuck in her own imagination and that Ichigo wasn't really there. How could he be there when just a few moments ago she had been reflecting on how angry she was with him?

"How did you get in?" She asked weakly.

"Karin let me in," He replied when he saw that Rukia was giving him a questioning look "I met her at the reception. But she is not here, she just let me in and then she changed and went out again. I don't know where she went, but I have to thank her too. You know, I just realized that I have pretty much screwed up as a husband."

"Yeah," she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I have made a great mess of things. I missed you and you know it wasn't right to miss our honeymoon."

"I know," He sighed. "And I know you will never forgive me for it. But well, you know I did have a surprise for you once we get back to Karakura."

"And what did you do?"

"Well," He shrugged. "I always know you like chappy. I just redecorate our house. Just wait till you get there, I hope you will like it."

Rukia couldn't help but smiled at this. Ichigo always seemed to know the exact right thing to fix his mistakes. Maybe she was too optimistic but she knew she loved him to death.

"Rukia," He said. "I'm sorry."

"Ichigo," She put her finger on his lips and smiled. "Shut up and kiss me."

And with that, they sunk into the peaceful oblivion that only a kiss brought upon a reunion can bring.

...

Karin walked along the beach with barefoot, feeling only the waves lapping upon the sand with the peaceful crash of a clam sea. This was another perfect night. She was quite proud of herself for finally sticking up for herself against Masaru. Slapping him actually made her feel good and she did not regret it. After this she was certain that Masaru was going to leave her alone and in peace. But she knew there was something missing; her thought seemed to draft back to Toushiro. For the first time since she had been in his arms the week before, she had felt so alive. The tension between them had been palpable all the way through and it had seemed as if the world had disappeared as soon as they had begun to dance.

After the dance had ended and she had seen Masaru, it seemed like Toushiro had disappeared. She had turned around to look for him as Masaru stood to the side and she hadn't seen him anywhere. She hadn't quite cared at the moment since she had been so thrilled that she had finally put Masaru in his place and that nothing else had matted.

Well, she cared now.

Stopping at a small stand of tall rocks that jutted over the sea, she climbed them carefully and finally found a safe place to sit and look out over the never-ending sea. Sighing, she closed her eyes and allowed the small breeze to play with her hair. She wasn't afraid anymore to admit that she loved Toushiro and wanted to be with him. Both of them were stubborn and afraid of giving themselves to someone fully, but when she was with him, she felt ready to take that leap.

"I think I would find you here." Karin heard the voice sounded sweetly familiar, that she jumped and turned in that direction to see the shadow of man standing underneath the rise of rocks.

"Can I come up?"

"Sure." Karin gulped. It was as if her thoughts had summoned him. How did he know she was here?"

With graceful movement, Toshiro lifted himself up onto the rocks and sat down beside her, his legs barely brushing hers but surprisingly creating more tension between them. Karin didn't dare move, she was afraid that if she did, she would break some sort of unspoken spell between them.

"So," Karin asked finally. "How did you find me?"

"I know this beach well," Toushiro shrugged. "I have been coming here since I was a kid with my family. I just think that it seems such a Karin type place to come."

Karin smiled at this. The man who sat beside her, whom she had always thought would have nothing to do with her know her better than the man she had thought she had known so well.

"It's pretty beautiful out here." Toushiro continued.

"I don't want to leave." Karin said truthfully

"I always wonder why I'm leaving when I do." Toshiro responded quietly.

Their tentative exploration with conversation seemed to end at that moment and the two of them looked out over the sea. Toushiro felt like a nervous teenager as he tried to gather his thoughts into words that wouldn't end up making Karin angry with him.

"I'm sorry," They said at the same time.

"You go first." Karin said softly.

"No," Toushiro shook his head. "You."

"I just," Karin replied shaking her head in defeat. "Well, I guess I was so wounded after what happened with Masaru that I wouldn't let anyone in. And when I asked you to help me, I obviously didn't think that anything was going to happen. I figured you are a pretty safe bet because we would just pretend and that it would drive Masaru crazy seeing me happy with you. I really didn't plan for something that would happen after the act of pretending. It scared me so much that it was easy to run the other way, but it didn't make me happy."

"Well, you are not entirely at fault." Toushiro replied laughing softly.

"I'm sorry that you have had to chase me and do all the stuff and have me not respond."

"Don't worry," Toushiro chuckled. "It wasn't easy for me knowing that I was falling in love with you too. I was so angry at first when I knew that you asked me to help you but I was so looking forward to pissing off Masaru. I have never been in love before and I have always been too scared to let myself fall that far but I told you the truth on the note the other day."

"Actually, I just realize that I would rather fight with you than be with anyone else," Karin smirked.

"Well, I guess we fooled ourselves pretty well, eh?"

Karin didn't even bother answering. Instead she leaned over and kissed him again.

"I love you," She whispered softly against his lips.

"Call me crazy," He responded. "But I love you too."

--

**I don't want to make Karin weak and Toushiro has already got his punch in the early chapter. So I hope you don't mind if I end it like this.**

**Now I'm done with this fic, but if you think that it's really finished… well, maybe not. I have the idea how to continue it, so I guess there will be a sequel coming up soon and please check it out when it is posted! I promise Masaru won't appear in a sequel, but it will be someone else… well, someone from Toushiro's side this time.**

**Read and review okay? And thank you so much for all your lovely reviews. XD**

**See ya!!**


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